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ABOLITION OF 

FEMALE INFANTICIDE 

IN 

GUZERAT. 



At Balfour, Printer, Merchant Couit. 



ACCOUNT 

OF THE ABOLITION OF 

jfemale ^ttfantuttje 

IN 

GUZERAT, 

a 

WITH 

CONSIDERATIONS ON THE QUESTION 

OP 

PROMOTING THE GOSPEL IN INDIA. 



BY THE 

REV. JOHN CORMACK, A. M. 

u 

MINISTER OF STOW. 



LONDON: 

PUBLISHED BY BLACK, PARRY, & CO. 

BOOKSELLERS TO THE HONOURABLE THE EAST INDIA COMPANY, 

LEADENHALL STREET; 
AND MACREDIE, SKELLY, AND MUCKERSY, 
EDINBURGH. 



1815. 



CONTENTS. 



Page. 



Preface, ' ' vii 

Chap. I. General Views with which we should enter on 

the subject, , 1 

II. Dicovery of Female Infanticide — Origin — Con- 
tinuance — Causes of both, . 11 

III, Prevalence of Infanticide among Barbarous and 

Heathen Nations in general — Among the 
Greeks and Romans — Conclusion from these 
facts, .40 

IV. Vicarious responsibility — Sitting in Dhurna — 

Tragga-^-Patriotic Suicide 51 

V. Manner of destroying Female Infants, ... ^8 
VI. Instances of Jahrejahs who saved their Infant 

Daughters, 83 

VII. How the Jahrejahs obtain Wives— Concubinage 

— Polygamy — Illegitimate Children, . . .101 
VIII. Difficulties experienced by Colonel Walker from 
the Jahrejahs themselves, in the Abolition of 

Female Infanticide, 120 

IX. Progress of the Narrative — Colonel Walker's suc- 
cess — Universal engagement of the Jahrejahs 
of Guzerat to relinquish Infanticide, . . .152 
X. Farther endeavours to abolish Female Infanticide 
in Kutch — Result of those endeavours — Re- 
flections, 179 

XI. Means taken to give effect to the engagements of 

the Jahrejahs in Guzerat to abolish Infanticide, 202 

XII. How far expectation has been justified by the re- 

sult of the measures adopted, 218 

XIII. Effects of the abolition of Infanticide, in hu- 

manizing the general character of the Jahre- 
jahs — Anecdotes illustrative of this fact — Pros- 
pects afforded, . 233 



I 



Vll 



CONTENTS. 



Page. 



Chap. XIV. The question of Promoting Christianity in In- 
dia illustrated from the facts of the preced- 
ing Narrative, and others that bear upon it, 246 
Sect. 1. Considerations on the pretended immutability 
of the character and customs of the Hindus, 
and other associated topics, 250 

2. The alleged danger of attempting to communi- 

cate the Gospel to our fellow subjects in In- 
dia, considered, 287 

3. Encouragements to Christians to promote the 

Gospel in India, , 308 

4. Duty of Christians to promote the Gospel in 

India, 335 

5. Manner and Spirit in which the attempt should 

be made and persevered in, till it be crown- 
ed with complete success ...... 358 

APPENDIX. 

No. 1. Correspondence between Colonel Walker and 
the Jahrejah Chiefs, on the subject of abolish- 
ing Female Infanticide, . 377 

2. Engagement of the Jahrejah Chiefs to relin- 

quish Female Infanticide, 389 

3. Correspondence with Fatteh Mahomed, rela- 

tive to the abolition of Female Infanticide in 
Kutch, 391 

4. Illustration of the case referred to p. 224, 

being Colonel Walker's Note to par. 89 of 
his Report, 404 

5. Letter from Colonel Walker to the Hon. Jona- 

than Duncan, Governor, &c. stating the re- 
sult of enquiries relative to the success of 
the measure of Abolition, &c , 408 



PREFACE. 



Xn drawing up the following account of 
the Abolition of Female Infanticide in Gu- 
zerat, the Author has been actuated by the 
desire of communicating to others, what 
afforded much pleasure to himself. The 
change, which the character of men must 
undergo* in their transition from that state, 
in which, with cold-blooded apathy, they 
extinguish the life of their offspring at its 
commencement, to that, in which they che- 
rish their children with fond affection, must 
be a subject of deep interest to the philoso- 
pher, the philanthropist, and the Christian. 
The causes, to which that change is to be 



\ 

\ 

Vlii PREFACE, 

ascribed, are interesting to the philosopher, 
as they enlarge the sphere of his know- 
ledge, and add to the illustrations, he pos- 
sesses, of the pliability of human nature, 
when apparently confirmed in habits, the 
most hostile to his purpose. The know- 
ledge of the facts, which necessarily enter 
into such a narrative, warms the heart of 
the philanthropist and the Christian, as it 
exhibits the good that has been actually 
done, and prompts to the use of analogous 
means in the extension of analogous bene- 
fits. 

In regard of materials, the Author has 
the satisfaction of stating, that he possesses 
all the information existing in this country 
on the subject of Infanticide, up to the 
date of publication. Colonel Walker's Re- 
port to the Bombay Government, with its 
accompaniments, forms the basis of thq 
narrative. The author desires to make his 

5 



PREFACE, IX 

respectful acknowledgments to the Ho- 
nourable the Court of Directors, for the 
readiness with which he has been furnished 
with the official documents, transmitted to 
and from India, to the latest date, on the 
subject of Infanticide. In other respects, 
also, he has enjoyed peculiar advantages, 
to which, although he would not, unautho- 
rised, drag forth names to public notice, he 
may be permitted in this general way to 
allude. 

It is proper, at the same time, to state, 
that, since Colonel Walker's return to this 
country, the author has had the pleasure of 
numbering him among the resident heritors 
of his parish. It is unnecessary to say how 
favourable, the intercourse thus afforded, 
must have proved to the full comprehension 
of his subject. This very circumstance, 
however, so advantageous to the work, and 
so gratifying to the Author, naturally gives 



X PREFACE. 

rise to a peculiar delicacy of feeling. The 
admiration of Colonel Walker's labours in 
the cause of humanity, with an intimate 
knowledge of his private character, has ren- 
dered it difficult to select on all occasions, 
those subdued and chastened modes of ex- 
pression, which may accord with general 
feeling. It has been the wish of the writer 
to err in saying too little rather than too 
much. But knowing as he does, that any 
praise will appear to Colonel Walker to be 
too much, when he himself is the object of 
it ; the Author begs leave, in this way, to 
intreat his indulgence, without hoping en- 
tirely to satisfy him. 

The facts, exhibited in this work, rest 
on the authorities referred to, and which 
are obviously the most satisfactory and un- 
exceptionable. For the reasoning, the Au- 
thor holds himself alone responsible. The 
horrid nature of Infanticide is too apparent 

- > 



PREFACE. Xi 

to require illustration. It was thought of 
much more importance to show, that the 
Jahrejahs were not singular in this atro- 
city; and that there is little security 
against this inhuman practice, or others of 
an equally revolting nature where Christi- 
anity is unknown. 

In the discussions respecting the promo- 
tion of the Gospel in India, it has been at- 
tempted to exhibit a fair statement of facts ; 
and when these are known, it can scarcely 
be imagined that a difference of opinion 
should exist on the subject. The shocking 
practices, to which the Hindu system gives 
rise, are too well known to require particu- 
lar illustration, and therefore the Author has 
merely glanced at them incidentally. It 
has been his study to avoid asperity of ex- 
pression towards those, whose sentiments 
are different from his own, without meanly 
shrinking from the full and bold exhibition 



Xii PREFACE. 

of what he is convinced to be truth. As a 
minister of the church of Scotland, he is 
placed in a sphere, where the hopes and 
fears of ambition cannot act. To com- 
mend gives him pleasure; but he is not 
afraid to blame. 

He conceived, that impartial statement 
required him to notice the proceedings of 
Lord Minto's government in India, in or- 
dering home the Missionaries not other- 
wise employed in the Company's service. 
It appears, however, that his Lordship was 
sensible of the harshness of the measure, 
from the attention and kindness, whjch he 
afterwards showed to that order of men. — - 
" Since the cruel sending of Brother Johns 
to Europe," says Dr Carey, " we have met 
with no opposition ; and I have some reason 
to think that step was the effect of some 
rash counsels, directed against the Gospel, 
at that particular time. However, here all 



PREFACE, Xlii 

is mere conjecture. Since that, Lord Minto 
has paid us a visit, and gone through all 
our offices; has put two Javanese Princes 
to school under Brother Marshman; and 
has, in short, acted towards us with more 
than ordinary attention." * 

It affords the Author sincere pleasure to 
add the testimony of Lord Minto to the 
literary acquirements and exemplary con- 
duct of the Missionaries ; as it reflects 
credit on the memory of that departed 
Nobleman, not less than on the merits of 
the body of men, who are the objects of his 
approbation. 

" I profess," says his Lordship, " a very 
sincere pleasure in bringing the literary 
merits of Mr Marshman and the other 
Reverend Members of the Serampore Mis- 
sion, to the notice of the public, and in 

* Periodical Accounts of the Baptist Mission, No. 26, 
p. 284. 



xiv 



PREFACE. 



bearing my testimony to the great and ex- 
traordinary labours, which constancy and 
energy in their numerous and various oc- 

I cupations have enabled this modest and 

respectable community to accomplish. 

I 66 I am not less gratified by the oppor- 

tunity, which their literary achievements 
afford, of expressing my regard for the ex- 
emplary worth of their lives, and the bene- 
ficent principle, which distinguishes and 
presides in the various useful establish- 
ments, which they have formed, and which 
are conducted by themselves."* 

If the severity, in the one case, and the 
commendation in the other, seem incon- 
sistent, the Author cannot be required to 
reconcile them. Both have been commu- 
nicated as facts, and he has considered it 
his duty to state them. 

* Periodical Accounts, No. 26, p. 326. 

\ 



PREFACE. XV 

If any representation or expression, un- 
favourable to individuals or bodies of men 
shall be shown to -be unfounded, the re- 
traction of them will afford the Author pe- 
culiar pleasure. He knows that he loves 
all good men, to whatever order, or deno- 
mination they may belong ; and he will be 
gratified with every instance, in which they 
shall be proved to be more numerous than 
he had previously reason to hope. 

The object of the writer of this volume 
has been to subserve the interests of truth 
and humanity ; and if that end be in any 
measure accomplished, he will find it easy 
to solace himself under the animadversions 
to which the imperfections of his work may 
give rise. 



I 



ACCOUNT 

OF THE ABOLITION OF 



jfemale 3nfantufoe 

IN 

GUZERAT. 



CHAPTER FIRST. 

General Views with which we should enter on the 

Subject 

It is delightful to contemplate generosity 
even in fable; whilst it is lamentable to re- 
flect, that it is only in fable that it is ge- 
nerally to be found. Ambition, revenge, 
and blood, almost continually mark the 
strain of the historic muse. Pride, selfish- 
ness, orreVenge, dictate, actuate, and rule, 
the intercourse of cabinets ; and when the 
standard is once unfurled, power is consider- 



£ FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GUZERAT. 

ed as the only measure of law, and success 
as the triumph of justice. Wearied with the 
detail of facts, which produce horror rather 
than surprise, and which diminish our hap- 
piness, in proportion as they increase our 
knowledge, we turn to the fictions of fable, 
and feel regret when the intrusion of reflec- 
tion dispels the idle but pleasing dream. 

Such being the general state of things, 
it must be no ordinary portion of delight 
that shall warm his bosom, who has it in 
his power to present to the feeling heart a 
picture drawn from fact, and not from fic- 
tion, in which the predominating tints are 
generosity, which insensibility and ingrati- 
tude in its object cannot extinguish ; and 
philanthropy, which seeks no other reward 
than the communication of good. 

It is with such impressions that the wri- 
ter of these pages sits down to trace and 
narrate the origin, progress, and final tri- 
umph of the means employed for the abo- 
lition of female infanticide, in the depart- 
ment of Guzerat called Kattywar. Nor is 



GENERAL VIEWS, &C. & 

the satisfaction derived from these details 
to be limited to the contemplation of the 
good, that has been actually accomplished, 
and the justice of enrolling another name 
among the benefactors of mankind. It ex- 
tends to the anticipation of future good to 
our race, originating in the power of ex- 
ample ; and the encouragement, which the 
benevolent will derive, by the present nar- 
rative, from the ultimate success of perse- 
verance. 

Were we informed by a traveller, how- 
ever respectable, that, in a certain district 
of country, where he had, for a time, resided, 
it was the custom of parents to put their 
female offspring to death, immediately when 
born, and to do it with remorseless apathy; 
we should do well to suspend our belief till 
we had carefully considered the nature and 
extent of the evidence, on which the fact 
rested. For such a custom is so abhorrent 
from those feelings, which we have always 
considered as inseparable from our nature, 

which are to be found in the wandering sa- 

4 



4* * FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GUZERAT. 

vage, as well as in the refined and polished, 
and which are independent of the slow and 
variable deductions of reason, that we can- 
not readily discover any common principle, 
to which we can trace its origin. On the 
other hand, when, as in the present case, 
the fact is established beyond all reason- 
able doubt, we should not be hasty in de- 
ciding what are the causes to which it owes 
its existence. An anomaly may be found 
in an individual ; but whatever is to be 
found in many, is referable to some cause, 
which would probably operate the same ef- 
fects upon others of the race, when placed 
in the same circumstances. 

Instead, therefore, of labouring after the 
excitation of wonder, by detailing facts, 
and concealing their causes, it will be at- 
tempted, in the following pages, to connect 
the detail of facts, with the investigation 
and developement of the principles, in which 
they originated. 

Human nature is every where, and at all 
times, essentially the same ; but the phe- 



GENERAL VIEWS, &C. 5 

nomena, which it exhibits are various, even 
to infinity. This is a position, which the 
uninformed and the unintelligent alone 
will dispute, but which may be established 
by an induction of facts, upon a foundation 
as solid and satisfactory, as the deductions 
of pure mathematics, though of a different 
kind. The varieties, or even the opposi- 
tion of character, which men in different 
circumstances exhibit, form not the con- 
tradiction, but the proof of this statement. 

We may contemplate particular and in- 
sulated facts in the history of our kind, till 
wonder be exhausted, and till nothing seem 
to be tenable but the adoption of this opi- 
nion, that there is not a single principle fix- 
ed and invariable in human nature, and 
upon the operation of which, in any given 
circumstances, we can depend. But an in- 
ference, so infantile and unfounded, will be 
treated with contempt by the matured and 
reflecting mind, which has explored the 
page of history with other views than the 
mere gratification of curiosity,— which has 



6 FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GUZERAT. 



carefully attended to its own operations — 
which has been accustomed closely to in- 
vestigate facts, and minutely to trace every 
link of that chain, which connects the ef- 
fect with its cause ; till all farther view 
be cut off from the prying eye of mortals, 
by the clouds and darkness which surround 
the throne of the Eternal. 

The truth is, that man is the child of 
those circumstances, in which he is placed; 
and as these, whether moral, political, or 
physical, vary in their nature and recipro- 
cal influence upon one another, so will the 
appearances change to which they give 
rise. Hence it is that we perceive, and can 
explain, the varieties of character which 
are exhibited, not only in different and dis- 
tant nations, but in the same people, living 
in the same country, at different times. 

The genial climes of Greece nurtured, 
at one period, the dauntless sons of war, 
by whom every thing but military glory 
was deemed contemptible and mean. The 
effects of conquest were wealth, and lux- 



✓ 



GENERAL VIEWS, &C. 



1 



ury, and leisure ; and men of taste, and 
elegance, and philosophy, succeeded those 
hardy and intrepid veterans. Time elapsed, 
and the moral and political vicissitudes, 
which it brought along with it, changed the 
aspect, and, in appearance, the very nature 
of things. Instead of scientific pursuits 
and philosophical discussions, or valour and 
patriotism, we find the sons of Greece, in 
these days, busied in the repetition of the 
Koran, or the enumeration of the rosary, 
without learning, without honour ; and, as 
if not one elastic spring of human nature 
remained unbroken, submitting, without an 
effort, to all the evils which are heaped 
upon them by a feeble and lethargic des- 
potism. 

Italy presents to us changes, not less 
striking, and evidently resulting from ana- 
logous causes. The fierce and lawless ban- 
ditti, whose desperate circumstances in- 
duced them to attach themselves to the 
fortunes of Romulus, soon grew into a na- 
tion of heroes, and subjected the world to 



i 



8 FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GUZERAT. 

their sway. Without stopping to mark, or 
analyse, the ever-varying shades, which 
the history of that people exhibits, as they 
pass along with the stream of time ; we 
behold, in a few ages, the sinews of war 
broken, the sceptre of dominion wrenched 
from their grasp, and every mental and 
moral energy enfeebled and relaxed. That 
nation of warriors and statesmen, whom 
the world acknowledged as its masters, and 
revered as its legislators, has since excited 
very different and opposite sentiments. 

How different, also, has the character 
of the Spaniard frequently been, since the 
time when Horace celebrated him as, 

66 Cantdbrum indoctum juga ferre nostra?" 

Our own country, likewise, has often ex- 
hibited the sudden and powerful effects of 
political change. The courage, which had 
so long repelled the Roman invader, was 
soon lost in the " Groans of Britons" im- 
ploring, in the most wailing and piteous 
strains, the aid of their foreign masters, to 



GENERAL VIEWS, 9 

drive back the fierce invaders of the north. 

It should be remembered, in this coun- 
try, that there was a time, when the pro- 
genitors of the Italians of the present day, 
looked upon Britons as incapable of any 
mental, or moral excellence ; and when 
they viewed and treated England as a mart 
for purchasing slaves to the citizens of 
Rome. # This consideration is calculated 
to teach humility to those, who confound 
the actual with the possible state of things; 
who imagine that their country has always 
been what it now is ; and that the inhabi- 
tants of every other clime, must remain in 
the moral state, in which they at present 
exist ; in short, that human nature is one 
thing in England, another in Italy, and a 
third in Hindustan. But the benevolent 
mind will rejoice in every additional proof, 
that the same causes will always operate 
the same effects on human nature, because 
human nature itself is, at all times, and in all 
places, essentially the same. Where degra- 

* Henry's Britain, 



10 FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GUZERAT. 

dation, arising from moral and political de- 
pression, has been removed, in one instance, 
it may be removed in another ; and, where 
actual experiment is wanting to stimulate 
and encourage the enterprise of the benevo- 
lent, analogy will generally supply its place, 
and often warrant both the same exertions 
and the same hopes as experiment itself. 

It is presumed that it will not be thought 
too bold to affirm, that the abolition of fe- 
male infanticide in Guzerat, both illus- 
trates and justifies these sentiments, per- 
haps even more strikingly than any other 
details of modern history. And whilst the 
writer narrates the intelligent and perseve- 
ring labours of Colonel Walker, tracing 
them progressively, and in connection, till 
they are ultimately crowned with success ; 
he would wish to fix the mind on the faci- 
lity, which the advancement of one step 
afforded for securing the next. Curiosity 
should be rendered subservient to know- 
ledge, and knowledge to the acquisition and 
circulation of happiness. 



CHAPTER SECOND, 



Discovery of Female Infanticide — Origin — Con- 
tinuance — Causes of both. 

Of barbarous and unenlightened nations, 
both the origin and peculiar customs are 
generally involved in the mists of fable, 
and ascribed to divine interposition. And 
even after the influence of civilization has 
begun to be felt, and the power of reason 
to prevail, it is with reluctance that men 
abandon pretensions, which flatter their 
vanity, and cherish their national prepos- 
sessions. The shield of Mars, which was said 
to have fallen from heaven, was preserved 
at Rome with sacred and peculiar care ; 
and the pretensions of the laws of Numa 
Pompilius, to divine inspiration, remained 
uncontradicted, long after thinking men 
were convinced of the falsehood and impos- 
ture, to which both of these stories owed 
their origin. 



12 FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GUZERAT. 

But there are few practices, perhaps there 
is not one, in the history of our race, so 
perfectly abhorrent, in its nature, from all 
that is amiable in human feeling, as that 
of the systematic destruction of children 
by their own parents. Shocking as human 
sacrifice itself is, and revolting as is the 
idea of devoting " the fruit of the body for 
the sin of the soul ;" we can yet trace 
something like a reason for it, through the 
misconceptions and perversion of human 
thought, the misinterpreted appearances of 
nature, and the corruptions of early tradi- 
tion. Besides, the destruction of human 
beings, in this way, was necessarily, but 
partial and occasional, among any of the 
people, by whom it was practised ; and, in- 
stead of threatening the extermination of 
the race, like infanticide, was always ima- 
gined to avert the divine anger, or draw 
down divine blessings. For infanticide, in- 
deed, no such palliatives have been, or can 
be pleaded. It is in direct opposition to 
the simplest and most obvious deductions 



/ 



DISCOVERY, ORIGIN, &C. 18 

of reason ; and in respect of feeling, which 
comes before reason, in the order of acting, 
it is in direct contrariety to the parental 
affection, which is the most pure, the most 
tender, and the most constant, which God 
has implanted in the human bosom. 

The practice, however, did prevail, (and 
we rejoice to speak of its prevalence as a 
thing that is past,) in several parts of Hin- 
dustan. And it is remarkable, that, while 
other practices, of a revolting nature, have 
owed their origin to some gloomy supersti- 
tion, venerated under the name of religion ; 
this has maintained itself without pretend- 
ing divine authority, or even divine per- 
mission. 

In accounting, afterwards, for this extra- 
ordinary fact, we shall be led to the expo- 
sition of a feature in Hindu superstition, 
perhaps not less extraordinary than the 
fact itself, and which, for the want of an 
appropriated term, we shall, at present, de- 
nominate vicarious responsibility. 

The existence of the shocking custom 



14 FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GUZERAT. 

of female infanticide was first discovered 
in 1789 among a tribe of Hindus, called 
Rajekoomars, in the district of Benares, 
named Juanpore, bordering on the coun* 
try of Oude. This discovery was then 
made by the Honourable Jonathan Dun^ 
can, at that time resident at Benares, and 
the fact was fully authenticated by the evi- 
dence and confession of the Rajekoomars 
themselves. Among this race, however* 
the practice of killing their female children 
was comparatively both partial in its ope- 
ration, and limited in its range. Many fa- 
milies were found who had spared one, and 
some, more than one of their female off- 
spring ; and one whole village formed an 
exception to the practice. This custom, 
maintaining itself in opposition to natural 
affection, was likewise found to prevail, 
though less extensively, among a small tribe 
named Rajebunses in the same province of 
Benares. The sanctions of religion were 
not pleaded, and the feelings of humanity 
could not be pleaded, in favour of the prac- 



DISCOVERY, ORIGIN, &C. 



15 



tice. Yet was it maintained, with no lit- 
tle degree of tenacity, and its observance 
was considered as a privilege, which was fi- 
nally yielded with reluctance. 

But it is not our object to enter into a 
detail of the measures, to which female in- 
fanticide, in Benares, owed its suppression. 
Indeed, if it were ever so much our wish 
to do so, the scantiness of the materials 
supplied on the subject, would leave the ac- 
count necessarily defective, or often con- 
jectural. This, however, we have the less 
reason to regret, as the most copious ma- 
terials are furnished by Colonel Walker, of 
those more extensive and more arduous la- 
bours in the same cause, in which he so 
zealously and successfully engaged in ano- 
ther quarter. And whilst we avoid being 
tedious, we conceive that it is impossible 
to be too minute in detailing every circum- 
stance, bearing directly, or even indirectly, 
on the abolition of infanticide : for, as in a 
chemical analysis, or physical solution, no 
ingredient, and no power is to be neglected 



61 FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GUZERAT. 

which contributes to the general result ; so* 
in relating this moral experiment, we should 
be able, as much as may be, to perceive 
how far each cause separately, and in its 
combination with others, contributed to the 
final result. 

In the accomplishment of this object, 
facts will be narrated, which cannot fail to 
shock the feeling and benevolent heart ; 
but the pang, which must be sometimes en- 
dured from this cause, will be abundantly 
compensated, when it is found that some 
of the most revolting practices, referred to, 
are now to be mentioned only among the 
things that have been. 

The scene of Colonel Walker's labours* 
in abolishing female infanticide, was Gu- 
zerat, to which he went in the capacity 
of political Resident in the year 1801, 
This extensive country, though possessing 
the maritime advantages of a peninsular 
situation, being washed on three sides by 
the gulfs of Cutch and Cambay, and by 
the Arabian sea ; is yet, to no inconsider- 



DISCOVERY, ORIGIN, &C. 



11 



able extent, more rude and unpolished, than 
many other parts of Hindustan, placed in 
apparently less favourable circumstances. 
This remark is made, not as the preface to 
a disquisition on the causes of the fact ; 
but to guard those, who are little acquaint- 
ed with Indian affairs, against imagining, 
that all the inhabitants of the vast, and 
comparatively boundless, regions of Hin- 
dustan, are to be considered as justly cha- 
racterised by the manners of a particular 

r 

tribe, or the occupants of a limited district. 
It is to be kept in mind, also, that the coun- 
try of Guzerat itself is by no means cha- 
racterised by uniformity, either of moral or 
of physical aspect. Among its inhabitants 
is to be found almost all that variety, which 
is comprehended between the extreme 
points of civilization, from the rudeness of 
the pastoral life to the voluptuousness of 
wealth, and the luxury of cities. The wild 
and insubordinate tribes dwell principally 
in the western part of the peninsula, which 
is called Kattywar, and on the banks of 



18 FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GUZERAT. 

the great rivers, which, without being 
woody, contain numerous ravines and fast- 
nesses. The tribes, who are thus circum- 
stanced, have, for ages, maintained the 
same character, and a species of indepen- 
dence, amid every change of government, 
to which the country, in general, has, from 
time to time, been exposed. 

It is to these ruder districts and more 
uncultivated tribes, that our attention will, 
in the sequel, be called ; and in passing, 
we may be permitted to remark, that the 
melioration, about to be presented, was ef- 
fected where every thing conspired to ren^ 
der it least probable. 

Colonel Walker's military and political 
duties in Guzerat, when considered apart, 
were such as must have fully occupied no 
ordinary mind ; yet, when we turn to his 
exertions for the abolition of infanticide, 
we should imagine, that it alone must have 
occupied his attention. When we reflect 
on the minute attention, which he bestow- 
ed on each particular fact, and the cir- 



DISCOVERY, ORIGIN, &C. 



19 



cumstances, in which it was presented to 
him, as well as the care, with which de- 
tached and insulated portions of informa- 
tion were examined and turned to advan- 
tage ; and when again we consider the 
length and accuracy of those official re- 
ports, which, from time to time, he trans- 
mitted to government, so honourable to him 
as a man of taste and letters ; and that 
these were written, not amid the luxury of 
literary ease, but amid the bustle of a camp, 
and the continual interruption and distrac- 
tion of attention, to which these circum- 
stances necessarily gave rise ; we shall no 
less respect his talents and industry, than 
we shall be delighted with his benevolence. 
Nothing is neglected ; and no one duty is 
permitted to interfere with another. Eve- 
ry object is kept distinct, and in its proper 
place ; and is prosecuted with as much ar- 
dour and interest, as if there were nothing 
else to engage attention. 

The revenue and financial systems, if sys- 
tems they might be called, of this people, 



20 FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GUZERAT. 

had fallen into such disorder, and the 
whole of their political economy was sunk 
into such confusion and inefficiency, that 
a politician of ordinary talents or perseve- 
rance would have speedily abandoned the 
thought of reforming what was apparently 
a chaos of contrarieties, defying melioration. 
For our present purpose it is enough to say, 
that a system, simple and efficient, was es^ 
tablished by Colonel Walker, in the course 
of some years of labour and perse verance, 
after he began to reside at Baroda in Gu- 
zerat ; a system, which relieved the natives 
from their embarrassments and insolvency, 
whilst it rendered the country more than 
a nominal possession to the East India 
Company. # The able, disinterested, and 

* To speak of the country of Guzerat as a posses- 
sion of the East India Company, is not correct, in the 
strict application of the term. We possess several con- 
siderable districts in different situations in the country* 
whilst the general government belongs to the native 
princes. With them, however, we are connected by 
such ties of alliance, as render them, in a great measure* 
dependent on our power and influence. 



ORIGIN, DISCOVERY, &C. 21 

benevolent manner, in which the Resident 
conducted these transactions, was not un- 
perceived by the natives, of whom suspi- 
cion and distrust might be allowed to be 
characteristics, without attaching to them 
much blame. They felt, even in the pro- 
gress of these things, that they were recei- 
ving benefits ; and they did not entirely 
withhold the return of esteem and grati- 
tude that was due. 

The mere statement of this fact is no or- 
dinary praise ; and, in the sequel, we shall 
perceive, that to the confidence of which 
the foundation was thus laid, we are to as- 
cribe some, at least, of the facilities afford- 
ed for the abolition of infanticide. 

The persons, by whom infanticide was 
committed in Guzerat, and the adjoining 
country of Kutch, are a race of Rajputes, 
called Jahrejahs. Though of pure Hindu 
descent, their ancient religion is blended 
with the fables of Mahomed, and legends 
of their own invention. They admit the 
adoption of children from other casts, a 

1 



22 FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GUZERAT. 

practice not known to be allowed by any 
other Hindu tribe. In the article of food, 
they are little scrupulous. 

The religion of the Jahrejahs, however, 
such as it is, by no means favours infanti- 
cide ; for the practice, as viewed by them- 
selves, necessarily implies the existence of 
guilt, while it admits the transference of 
that guilt to others.* This shocking prac- 
tice, therefore, existed in opposition to feel- 
ing, reason, and religion. 

The extent to which it prevailed, or, in 
other words, the number of female infants, 
annually destroyed, in this way, cannot be 
easily ascertained ; nor is it possible, per- 
haps, to make a very close approximation 
to the truth. The cause of this is to be 
ascribed, in some measure, to the secrecy, 
as well as indifference, with which the un- 
natural crime was perpetrated, and of 
which it will be necessary, hereafter, to 
submit to the painful task of giving a brief 
recital. 

» 

* Colonel Walker's Report upon Infanticide., par. 193. 



) 

DISCOVERY, ORIGIN, &C. 23 

Hence it was that Colonel Walker, not- 
withstanding his utmost care in investigat- 
ing the subject, could never hazard a state- 
ment of what should be considered the pro- 
bable number of female infants, thus an- 
nually destroyed. The extreme numbers, 
including the Jahrejah families, both of 
Kutch andGuzerat, which he received, were 
20,000, and 3,000 ; of which the first, he 
observes, is no doubt, a great deal more 
than the truth, as the last is certainly 
much less. # 

The data here afforded us, vague and 
uncertain as they are, founded not on prin- 
ciples of calculation, but the opinion of the 
natives, yet sufficiently testify, that this 
unnatural practice was carried to an extent, 
which it would have been uncharitable to 
imagine, till the fact was proved. " The 
extent," says the Colonel, " to which this 
horrid practice has been carried, affords a 
melancholy picture of human manners and 
depravity. The fact, which would scarce- 

* Report, par, 106—113. 



V 



24 FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GUZERAT. 

ly obtain credit among the more civilized 
nations of Europe, is now established to de- 
monstration."* And speaking of it, in con- 
tinuance, he justly calls it " a custom as 
singular as barbarous, and as contrary to 
the general feelings of parents and huma- 
nity, as ever disgraced the history of man." 

It is time that we now turn our atten- 
tion to the developement of those princi- 
ples and circumstances* to which this un- 
natural custom owed its origin and conti- 
nuance. A recital of the fabulous events 
to which the practice has been ascribed, is 
communicated by Colonel Walker, and is 
introduced in his Report, in the following 
words : 

" The traditionary and legendary ac- 
counts of the Hindus, although sometimes 
ingenious, are often the wild and extrava- 
gant fictions of a rude and superstitious 
people ; but the oral account of the savage 
and atrocious custom of infanticide, is com- 

* Report, par. 295. 



DISCOVERY, ORIGIN, &C. 25 

prised in a simple narrative, and exhibits, 
under a slight disguise, a remote historical 
event. 

<; The Jahrejahs relate, that a powerful 
Rajah of their cast, who had a daughter of 
singular beauty and accomplishments, de- 
sired his Raj-gur, # or family Brahmin, to 
affiance her to a prince of desert and rank, 
equal to her own. The Raj-gur travelled 
over many countries, without discovering 
a chief, who possessed the requisite quali- 
ties ; for, where wealth and power were 
combined, personal accomplishments and 
virtue were defective. In like manner, 
where the advantages of the mind and the 
body were united, those of fortune and 
rank were wanting. 

" The Raj-gur returned, and reported to 

* " The Raj-gur, otherwise called Raj-gooroo, is 
literally the priest, tutor, or preceptor, of a Rajah ; 
but the term is applied to the domestic Brahmin of 
any family in this country," (Kattywar). " The Kat- 
ties, and even every individual of a cast, has a Raj- 
gur. In the peninsula, and Kutch, the Raj-gurs are a 
distinct tribe." 



26 FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GUZERAT. 

the prince, that his mission had not proved 
successful. This intelligence gave the Ra- 
jah much affliction and concern, as the 
Hindus reckon it to be the first duty of 
parents to provide suitable husbands for 
their daughters, and it is reproachful that 
they should pass the age of puberty with- 
out having been affianced, and be under 
the necessity of living in a state of celiba- 
cy. The Rajah, however, rejected, and 
strongly reprobated every match for his 
daughter, which he conceived inferior to 
her high rank and perfections. In this di- 
lemma, the Rajah consulted his Raj-gur ; 
and the Brahmin advised him to avoid the 
censure and disgrace which would attend 
the princess remaining unmarried, by hav- 
ing recourse to the desperate expedient of 
putting his daughter to death. The Ra- 
jah was long averse to this desperate ex- 
pedient, and remonstrated against the mur- 
der of a woman, which, enormous as it is 
represented in the Shasters, would be ag- 



DISCOVERY, ORIGIN, &C, 



gravated when committed on his own off- 
spring,, 

" The Raj-gur at length removed the Ra- 
jah's scruples, by consenting to load him- 
self with the guilt ; and to become, in his 
own person, responsible for all the conse- 
quences of the sin. Accordingly, the prin- 
cess was put to death ; and female infanti- 
cide was, from that time, practised by the 
Jahrejahs." From this narrative, it is well 
observed, " curiosity receives little grati- 
fication, and the mind no pleasure. It re- 
sembles the tales of infancy, rather than 
the grave history of a transaction, involv- 
ing the fate of a numerous portion of the 

human race." * 

*' 

This story, though clumsy and inele- 

* Report on Infanticide, 1808, par. 8 — 17. The 
passage here quoted, is contained in the number of pa- 
ragraphs indicated above, according to the mode usu- 
ally observed in official reports to the Company's Go- 
vernment, every new sentence generally forming a new 
paragraph ; all of which, for the sake of distinct and 
easy reference, are numbered. In the transcript, this 
was deemed unnecessary. 



28 FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GUZERAT. 



gant in the invention, connects the origin 
of infanticide with high rank, Brahminical 
authority, and remote antiquity. It was, 
accordingly, in extensive circulation, and 
was frequently communicated in reply to 
queries proposed on the subject. But al- 
though the tale, taken as a whole, be more 
than improbable, it is yet, in some of its 
parts, founded in the views, characters, and 
customs, of the Jahrejahs. 

They consider it to be a sacred and in- 
violable duty to have their daughters affi- 
anced, at an early age ; and, that they 
should live in celibacy, they hold to be an 
indelible disgrace. Now, in one period of 
their history, as we shall immediately see, 
there was, no doubt, a very great increase 
of domestic anxiety connected with the 
education of female children ; and to pro- 
cure marriages for them, according to the 
extravagant notions, which they entertain- 
ed of their own importance, may be pro- 
nounced to have been, not merely difficult, 
but absolutely impossible. But the respon- 



' V. : V'i; •' i ' 
» 



DISCOVERY, ORIGIN, &C. 



29 



sibility of the Raj-gur, absurd and irration- 
al as it is, was probably that, without which, 
this unnatural practice never would have 
become general ; and without which, it 
would not have continued beyond the du- 
ration of that factitious necessity, which 
their pride had created. This curious fea- 
ture in their character, and which extend- 
ed itself to other practices besides infanti- 
cide, scarcely less shocking, though less ex- 
tensively destructive, merits separate con- 
sideration. In the mean time, we shall at- 
tend to the true, or at least a very probable 
account of the origin of this practice, with 
which the industry and investigation of Co- 
lonel Walker have furnished us. # 

A. 

From the ancient history of the Jahre- 
jahs, it appears, that their first considerable 
establishment, so far as can be clearly as- 
certained, was in Scind ; and, from their 
traditions, it seems probable, that, under 
different denominations, they had, at a still 



* Report, par. 29—43. 



30 FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GUZERAT* 



earlier period, extended over a great part 
of Persia. It is well known, that the great 
aim of the fanatical Khalifs, who succeed- 
ed to the authority of Mahomet, was to ex- 
tend their creed and their power together, 
and that Scind became an early object of 
their ambition. By the superior force of 
arms, the greater part of the inhabitants of 
Persia and of Scind soon yielded a reluc- 
tant submission to the Mahomedan yoke, 
and, in appearance, to the Mahomedan 
faith. 

It is not improbable, that in this event 
originated the custom of female infanticide 
among the Jahrejahs. Deprived of their 
independence, their ancient intercourse be- 
ing interrupted, and their habits and feel- 
ings suppressed or disguised, the career 
of their degradation was certainly begun ; 
yet, for a time, their notions of superiority, 
collecting fuel from their humiliation it- 
self, would burn more intensely by being 
pent up in their own bosoms. Cut off from 
the intercourse of other Rajapute tribes, 

/ 



DISCOVERY, ORIGIN, &C. 31 

whom alone they deemed worthy of ob- 
taining their daughters in marriage, while 
indignation and revenge rankled in their 
ferocious bosoms, they would sacrifice na-< 
tural affection itself to what they consider- 
ed their honour and their fame. 

These sentiments would, no doubt, be en- 
couraged by their chiefs, who would be 
aware, that the mingling of blood by affini- 
ty, was calculated powerfully to allay, or 
even entirely to extinguish, former hosti- 
lity. By their directing minds, looking 
forward to the first opportunity of shaking 
off the galling yoke, was probably suggest- 
ed the expedient of transferring the re- 
sponsibility from the actual perpetrators of 
female infanticide, to the Brahminical or- 
der ; and men, seldom moved by the softer 
sensibilities of nature, and unaccustomed 
to moral and metaphysical discussion, would 
feel little difficulty in yielding to the sug- 
gestions of those, whom it was no degrada- 
tion to consider their superiors. 

Another account, analogous in its gene- 



i 



32 FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GUZERAT. 

ral aspect, was obtained in the course of 
enquiry, and which, as it seems to have 
been founded on some remote historical 
event, it would be improper to omit, where 
evidence is scanty. 

It is stated, that some of the early Mus- 
sulman invaders, desirous of uniting the af- 
fections, by consolidating the interests of 
the Jahrejahs and their conquerors, request- 
ed the daughters of the Rajahs in mar- 
riage. The feelings of their pride, as well 
as the principles of their policy, were alarm- 
ed by the proposal ; and, fearful that force 
might be employed to extort what their 
inclinations refused, the Jahrejahs replied, 
that they did not rear their daughters. In 
this extremity, they listened to the coun- 
sel of their Raj-gurs, who proposed the ex- 
pedient of putting their daughters to death, 
while they offered to become responsible 
in their own persons for the guilt incurred. 
It is said that, in these circumstances, fe- 
male infanticide originated. 

* P. S. to Report, 15th March 1808, 

i 



DISCOVERY, ORIGIN, &C. 33 

An account, in exact consistency with 
this, was communicated to Colonel Wal- 
ker, of one of the Rajahs of Noanuggur, in 
Guzerat, whose daughter the Emperor of 
Delhi demanded in marriage. It is said, 
that, in some period of the history of the 
Jahrejahs, one of the Jams had been de- 
spoiled of his country by the Emperor of 
Delhi, who offered to restore it to him on 
condition of receiving his daughter in mar- 
riage. Advantageous as the offer might 
seem, Jam rejected it with disdain, and 
transmitted his refusal by the Governor 
of Ahmedabad, through whom the propo- 
sal had been made. 

After some time was allowed for reflec- 
tion, however, Jam yielded to the advice of 
his friends, who suggested the expedient 
of an apparent compliance. It was pro- 
posed that he should set off for Delhi with 
his daughter, but that he might both evade 
the disgrace of the alliance, and recover 
his country, by putting her to death, and 
alleging that she had died of sickness 



34* FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GUZERAT. 

or fatigue during the journey. The scheme 
was adopted and carried into effect. 

Whatever be the degree of credit, that 
should be attached to this account, which, 
like the rest of this people's history, rests 
principally on tradition, it affords us a very 
curious view of the Jahrejahs, both in a 
moral and intellectual aspect. That a sub- 
sidiary and subjected tribe should have che- 
rished such extravagant notions of their 
own superiority, is an instance of the most 
unreasonable pride, that has been at any 
time related. Their notions of what con- 
stituted their degradation, are not less sur- 
prising nor less inconsistent. To avoid the 
infamy of an alliance with the Emperor of 
Delhi, Jam appears to have committed, 
without remorse, and without the disap- 
probation of his tribe, the crimes of fraud 
and of murder, in the most aggravated cir- 
cumstances. ' v 

This narrative suggests another remark. 
In investigating the subject, it was found, 
that although infanticide was practised 



/ 



\ 

i 



DISCOVERY, ORIGIN, $5 

without any disapprobation among the Jah- 
rejahs, yet it was counted a very heinous 
crime to put to death a daughter, who had 
been permitted to live any time. The per- 
petrator of such a crime would probably 
be cut off from the social intercourse of 
his tribe, or be subjected to some pointed 
mark of their disapprobation or resentment. 
But the existence of the above narrative 
involves the admission, that circumstances 
may occur, which shall justify a departure 
from the general principle, and which shall 
not only warrant the murder of a daugh- 
ter, who has grown up, but even render it 
meritorious. 

These facts and circumstances in the po- 
litical and moral condition of the Jahrejahs, 
at the period of the conquest of Scind, seem, 
with strong probability, at least, to point to 
the origin of female infanticide. To put 
their daughters to death, they, no doubt, 
considered to be a sin ; but by the expedient 
of the delusive responsibility of the Raj- 
gur, they conceived the guilt to be no long- 



36 FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GUZERAT 



er attached to themselves : on the other 
hand, they imagined themselves charge- 
able, both with sin and dishonour, if they 
reared them in celibacy, or married them 
to husbands unworthy of them. 

Had the Jahrejahs been able speedily to 
repel their Mussulman invaders, the feel- 
ings of nature might have returned with 
their independence. But all the political 
events in their history, for ages posterior to 
that invasion, were fitted to encourage and 
confirm into an established custom, this 
outrage upon human nature, rather than to 
counteract and repress it. 

The country of Scind had been overrun, 
rather than subdued ; and the submission 
of the Jahrejahs to the Mahomedan yoke, 
was, in many cases, not even pretended, 
and was in no case sincere. This struggle 
between domination on the one hand, and 
freedom on the other, was long and stre- 
nuously maintained ; and whatever might 
be the partial sufferings and subjection of 
the Jahrejahs, during the contest, they 



DISCOVERY, ORIGIN, &C. SI 

were occasional, rather than permanent, and 
such as were calculated to rouse and con- 
centrate the energies of free-born men, ra- 
ther than settle into servility and despair. 
In the progress of time, still unsubdued, 
yet unable to repel their haughty invaders, 
they migrated into Kutch and Guzerat, 
and there re-established their power and 
their religion * 

The Jahrejahs were now settled among 
other Rajapute tribes, with whom they had 
been accustomed to intermarry, and from 
whom, generally speaking, their own wives 
had been obtained. But they had long 
been accustomed to stifle the softer en- 
dearments of parental and domestic ten- 
derness, amid the din of arms ; and they 
now considered infanticide, to which a fac- 
titious necessity at first gave rise, as a pri- 
vilege and mark of honourable distinction. 
At all times fierce and uncivilized, the late 
events in their history were fitted more and 
more to eradicate from their bosoms what- 
ever was calculated to soften and humanize. 



SB FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GUZERAT. 

and to attach respectability and honour ex- 
clusively to whatever was associated with 
the maintenance of their independence, 
and the acquisition'of their new establish- 
ment. Every thing accordingly conspired 
to convert their pride into insolence, and 
their fortitude into ferocity. The syste- 
matic practice of killing their infant daugh- 
ters, now become habitual, their Mussul- 
man wars, and, finally, the circumstance of 
their settling by conquest in Kutch and 
Guzerat, all tended to keep up the distinc- 
tions, with which they entered the new ter- 
ritory, and to magnify and exaggerate their 
importance. Coming from a foreign coun- 
try, also, much of their general manners 
would differ from those of the Rajaputes, 
among whom they now settled ; and one 
thing of no mean importance, was the di- 
versity of their Dewry or household god. 

The history of the Jahrejahs, also, since 
their arrival in Kutch and Guzerat, strik- 
ingly indicates political imprudence, ca- 
price, and incapacity for government ; and 



DISCOVERY, ORIGIN, &C. 39 

this being the case, little was to be expect- 
ed from intellectual exercise, and the 
power of reason. 

Such is the probable origin of infanticide, 
and such are some of the causes of its con- 
tinuance. Other causes, however, little ho- 
nourable to the Jahrejahs, were discovered 
in the course of investigation, to some of 
which is to be ascribed, in no small degree, 
the difficulties attending abolition. But 
before considering that subject, it may be 
proper to attend shortly to the nature of 
vicarious responsibility, as we have called 
it, the forms which it assumed, and the 
crimes which it occasioned. To the notice, 
also, which it may be thought fit to take 
of these things, shall be premised a few 
sentences on the existence and prevalence 
of infanticide in other ages and nations. 



CHAPTER THIRD. 

Prevalence of Infanticide among Barbarous and 
Heathen Nations in gen eral — Among the Greeks 
and Romans — Conclusion from these facts. 

It is not improbable, that not a few, who 
may inspect these pages, may consider the 
Jahrejahs, and the other tribes who have 
been ascertained to have been guilty of in- 
fanticide, as atrocious, and without natural 
affection, beyond the example of even the 
worst of heathens. By those who peruse 
the whole of this little work, it will never 
be imagined that the writer wishes to palli- 
ate the crime of infanticide, or in the slight- 
est degree to become the apologist of what 
is so abhorrent from nature. Yet he ima- 
gines, that it is only doing justice to the 



AMONG HEATHEN NATIONS, &C. 41 

reader, and also to the character of the 
people, who must be so often mentioned in 
terms of reprobation, to shew, that they 
have not been singular in the perpetration 
of a crime, so shocking to human feeling. 
The evidence of this fact, likewise, may 
lay the foundation of a conclusion, of deep 
interest and importance in the age and cir- 
cumstances in which we live. 

It is not intended, in this place, to enter 
extensively upon the subject of the gene- 
ral prevalence of infanticide, in former and 
present times, but shortly to refer to facts 
and sources of information, for the sake of 
those, who may be disposed more largely 
and leisurely to explore them* 

It may be stated, then, as a fact resting 
on incontrovertible evidence,* that the crime 

* For the evidence on which these facts rest, it may 
be sufficient to refer here generally to the laborious in- 
vestigations of Jacob Bryant, and to the elegant and 
able work of Mai thus on the principle of population, a 
work which is characterised by peculiar felicity of il- 
lustration, and acuteness of remark. In so far as re- 
gards the ancients, the work of the late Dr Millar of 



42 



FEMALE INFANTICIDE 



of infanticide, if it cannot be said to have 
been universal, may yet be affirmed to have 
been pretty common, wherever Christianity 
has been unknown, and to have been in 
some measure systematically perpetrated 
by the Greeks and Romans. 

The motives, which led to this crime 
among different tribes, will be found to vary 
with circumstances ; but that which gave 
power and prevalence to any motives what- 
ever, must necessarily be admitted to have 
been the want of natural affection. 

Among the various savage or semi-bar- 
barous tribes, to whom Malthus refers, and 
whom it is not intended here to particu- 
larize, we find that infanticide prevails ac- 
cording to the conveniency of parents; and 
from the habits of many of them, it seems 
surprising that they have not long ago 
ceased to exist. To the disgusting habits 
and extreme wretchedness of the inhabi- 
tants of Terra del Fuego, and New Hol- 

Glasgow, on the Origin of Ranks, will supply not a 
little information, at once accurate and important. 



AMONG HEATHEN NATIONS, &C. 43 

land, it does not seem necessary to allude. 
The Mahomedan Tartars approve of poly- 
gamy, from the motive of having many 
children, whom they sell as slaves ; and, 
when assailed by extreme poverty, they 
put them to death with probably no other 
feeling of regret, than that of inability to 
offer a very marketable commodity for 
sale. 

In China, religion and interest concur 
in favouring the rearing of children ; for 
the happiness of deceased ancestors is sup- 
posed to be increased by the honour done 
them by their descendants ; and the law 
requires that children shall maintain their 
parents, in indigent old age. Yet, in the 
great cities of Pekin and Canton, in par- 
ticular, Sir George Staunton found the ex- 
posure of children to be very common. 
Among the Chinese, however, it is to be 
ascribed to the extreme poverty, which is 
so frequently occasioned, in that vast em- 
pire, by a redundant population, which. 



V 



) 



44 FEMALE INFANTICIDE 

even in years of plenty, presses close to 
the means of subsistence. 

It is, however, of more inportance to 
ascertain, in this respect, the practice of 
the ancient Greeks and Romans, to whom 
we have been taught, in our boyish days, 
to look up with so much reverence and ad- 
miration. "It is probable," says Malthus,* 
" that the practice of infanticide had pre- 
vailed from the earliest ages in Greece." 
— " And when Solon permitted the expo-' 
sing of children, it is probable that he only 
gave the sanction of law to a custom already 
prevalent." — The source of the crime, with 
individual perpetrators, was, no doubt, apa- 
thy and convenience, whilst the object of 
the state was to check a redundant and 
unproductive population. 

Of all the states of Greece, the Thebans 
are mentioned by iElian, as the only ex- 
ception to the general practice of exposing 
infants at the will of their parents, f The 

* Vol I. p. 275. f M\i*u. Var. Hist. 1. ii. c. 7, 



AMONG HEATHEN NATIONS, &C. 45 

destruction of children, in this way, was 
prohibited by the Theban law, which pro- 
vided, that, when extreme poverty render- 
ed it difficult for parents to rear their pro- 
geny, they should carry them to the ma- 
gistrate, who, having brought them up at 
the public expence, afterwards sold them 
as slaves to reimburse the national cof- 
fers. — Schefferus, in his annotations on 
this passage of iElian, remarks, that " this 
conduct of the Theban s was contrary both 
to the law and the practice of the rest of 
the Greeks, and particularly of the Athe- 
nians, t 

By the other states of Greece, infanti- 
cide was sanctioned and regulated by law. 
Some legal provisions, indeed, for the re- 
gulation of this practice, seem to have been 
thought requisite by the most profound 
and able philosophers of Greece. In the 
republics of Plato and Aristotle, according- 

* " Contra morem legesque reliquorum Grsecorum, 
et imprimis Atheniensium " 



46 FEMALE INFANTICIDE 

ly, we find very special enactments sug- 
gested on the subject ; and with as much 
apparent apathy as if parental feeling and 
natural affection were unworthy of man. 
The period of marriage was to be fixed in 
regard of either sex ; the children of poor- 
er citizens were to be destroyed at their 
birth ; and the children of parents, of what- 
ever rank, who had attained a certain age, 
were never to be allowed to appear. These 
two philosophers agreed in one principle, 
which appears to have been the great politi- 
cal maxim with Greek legislators, that there 
should be kept up an effective population, 
proportioned to the wants and resources of 
the state ; and to this object were to be sa- 
crificed every feeling of humanity, and eve- 
ry thing that renders man worthy of his 
nature and his name. 

In this respect the Romans were not su- 
perior to the Greeks. It may be proper 
here to quote the words of Dr Miller, who 
will not be suspected of prejudice against 
that celebrated people. " By a law of Ro- 



AMONG HEATHEN NATIONS, &C. 47 

mulus," says he, " parents are said to have 
been obliged to maintain their male chil- 
dren, and the eldest female, unless where 
a child was, by two of the neighbours, cal- 
led for the purpose, declared to be a mon- 
ster. A regulation of the same nature is 
mentioned among the laws of the twelve 
tables ; but there is ground to believe that 
little regard was paid to it ; and even under 
the Emperors, the exposing of new born 
children, of either sex, appears to have 
been exceedingly common." % It is well 
known also, that, according to the laws 
and customs of the Romans, the father had 
anciently an unlimited power of putting 
his children to death, after they were 
grown up, and even officially employed by 
the state, and likewise of selling them for 
slaves. 

To allude, even slightly, to the prac- 
tices of the Romans, on this point, would 
fill the reader with disgust and horror ; and 



* Miller on Ranks, 4th edit. p. 131-2. 



» 



48 . FEMALE INFANTICIDE 

satisfy him that the picture of them drawn 
by St Paul is, by no means overloaded. 
" Vicious habits of every possible kind," 
says Malthus, " preventive of population^ 
seem to have been so generally prevalent, 
at this period," under the Emperors, " that 
no corrective laws could have any consider- 
able influence." # From these statements 
it appears, that infanticide, in one way or 
other, has prevailed, not in barbarous na- 
tions alone, but generally speaking, over 
all the heathen world ; and that so far was 
it from being prevented by the boasted 
wisdom, civilization, and refinement of 

* Malthus, vol. i. p. 291 — In a note in the preced- 
ing page, he says, <c How completely the laws relating 
to the encouragement of marriage and of children were 
t despised, appears from a speech of Minucius Felix, in 
Octavio, cap. 30. 64 Vos enim video procreatos Jilios nunc 
feris et avibus exponere, nunc adstrangulatos misero mortis 
genere elidere : Sunt qua in ipsis visceribus medicaminibus, 
epotis originem futuri hominis extinguant, et parricidium 
faciant antequam pariant" 

(i This crime, 1 ' adds he, " had grown so much into 
a custom in Rome, that even Pliny attempts to excuse 
it ; quoniam aliquarum fecunditas plena liberis tali venia 
indiget" 1. xxix. c. 4. 

4 



AMONG HEATHEN NATIONS. 49 

Greece and Rome, that these very quali- 
ties were employed in cherishing, regulat- 
ing, and perpetuating the crime. The con- 
clusion, which seems to be warranted by 
these facts, is, that we have little security 
against infanticide, or any other crime 
against nature, where Christianity is un- 
known. 

By Christianity, as here used, we are to 
understand that, which is properly so de- 
nominated. If it exist nominally among 
barbarians, who have never been instructed 
in its principles, it cannot be expected to 
produce any effect at all. If it exist in a 
corrupted state, as it now does in Abyssi- 
nia, and as it did in Europe, previously to 
the Reformation, it may produce as much 
evil as good, by sanctioning error and pal- 
liating iniquity. But wherever the peo- 
ple at large possess the sacred Scriptures 
with the ability to read them, the com- 
munication of which, was the great object 
of the reformers, benefits the most solid, 
extensive, and durable, may be expected. 

D 



50 FEMALE INFANTICIDE, &C. 

But it is time to turn to the more direct 
subject of this work ; and, first of all, to 
some of the particular notions of the Jahre- 
jahs, connected with the practice of female 
infanticide,, 



\ 



CHAPTER FOURTH. 

Vicarious Responsibility — Sitting in Dhurna— 
Tragga — Patriotic Suicide. 

AV^hatever might be the political causes, 
in which an imaginary necessity for female 
infanticide originated, it certainly did not 
derive any direct countenance from the re- 
ligious system of the Hindus. In a sloke, or 
verse, quoted from the Shasters, the crime 
of killing a female child is aggravated al- 
most beyond enormity itself. " To kill a 
hundred cows," it is said, " is equal to kil- 
ling a Brahmin ; to kill a hundred Brah- 
mins is equal to killing a woman ; to kill 
a hundred women is equal to killing a 
child ; to kill a hundred children is equal 
to telling an untruth." 



52 FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GUZERAT. 

This is a literal version from the original 
sloke, as found, we are informed, in the 
Dherma Shastra. We are, however, by no 
means, to understand this graduated scale 
of moral guilt, in a very strict and literal 
sense. In the progress of the narrative, 
we shall find, that deceit and falsehood, in- 
stead of exciting the horror, which this pas- 
sage would lead us to anticipate, form, by 
no means f a rare feature in the Hindu cha- 
racter, nor a feature that is beheld with 
much abhorrence. But, however they 
may regard falsehood, the crime of putting 
a child to death, as will appear by the en- 
gagements, into which the Jahrejahs after- 
wards entered, as represented by their 
books of authority in religion, is a crime, 
for which the perpetrators of it shall suffer 
a particular species of torment, in the hell 
called Kule-Sootheela. 

Many of the Jahrejahs were, no doubt, 
ignorant of these denunciations ; but they 
were all convinced that infanticide was a 
crime, of which the guilt must attach some- 



VICARIOUS RESPONSIBILITY, &C. 53 

where ; and to remove it from themselves 
was a thing, which, by the expedient of 
the Raj-gurs, appeared to them as easy and 
efficacious, as it was desirable. 

The Jali rej ahs, whilst they considered 
themselves exonerated of all culpability 
for the crime of infanticide, which they 
were daily committing, were fully persuad- 
ed that their Raj-gurs were suffering for 
it ; and that the proof of this suffering was 
exhibited in the poverty and disrespect, 
into which they were generally fallen. 

The notion of the Brahmins, taking the 
responsibility of the perpetrators of this 
crime upon themselves, appears, at first 
sight, to be one of the most extraordinary 
ideas, that ever was countenanced by the 
meanest exercise of reason. After a little 
reflection, however, I am persuaded, that 
absurd as the notion seems, and extrava- 
gant as the credulity, which it involves, is 
deemed ; it will be found to pervade other 
customs of this people, and to be associated, 
if not actually identified ? perhaps^ witb 



54* FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GUZERAT. 

an idea of no mean origin, and which is as 
universal as the human race. 

The notion referred to is what, in the lan- 
guage of theology, is termed vicarious suf- 
fering. The expression implies the trans- 
ference of guilt from the actual perpetra- 
tor, to another being substituted in his 
place ; so that upon this last is inflicted 
the punishment due to the former. Upon 
this notion, which has been found as uni- 
versal as men possessing the idea of a Su- 
preme Being, rests the practice of sacrifice 
of every kind, and even of human sacrifice 
itself. 

That human sacrifice prevailed more or 
less, through the heathen world, is a fact, 
of which no one is ignorant ; yet the full 
extent, to which the abomination was car- 
ried, is, by no means, generally known. 
It was practised to a degree, of which few 
are aware, among the Canaanites, the 
Greeks, the Carthaginians, the Gauls, and 
the Celtic nations in general. Tales of 
horror, of which, however, the truth is in- 



VICARIOUS RESPONSIBILITY, &C. 55 



disputable, are presented to us, of hundreds 
of the most fair and noble, being sacrificed, 
at once, to the sanguinary deities of these 
deluded votaries. # Both in Homer and 
Virgil, we have accounts of human sacri- 
fices, communicated, in such a way, as in- 
dicates no abhorrence in the poet, and was 
meant so inspire none on the part of his 
reader. 

Caesar informs us, that it was a prevalent 
maxim among the Gauls, that the Deity 
could not be appeased, unless the life of 
one man, which had been forfeited by guilt, 
were atoned by the life of another, who 
was innocent, f Cicero speaks of the pre- 
valence of human sacrifices among the 
Gauls in terms of just reprobation ; but he 
was not ignorant, that the practice existed 
even among the Romans. Nay, Caesar, 
who speaks of the custom among the Gauls, 
as something rare and extraordinary, is 



* Bryant. f De Bel. Gal. 1. vi. c. 15. 

5 



56 FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GUZERAT* 

affirmed to have afforded an example of i«t 
on the day of his triumph. 

Dion # having told us, that, on that oc- 
casion, the celebrated Gallic leader Ver- 
cingetorix was put to death ; states that 
two other men were afterwards sacrificed, 
the reason of which he had not learned. 
He indicates something like surprise, or 
curiosity, when he remarks, that this sacri- 
fice had not been ordered by the Sibylline 
oracle, or any similar authority. Yet, says 
he, these men were sacrificed in the Cam- 
pus Martius, and by the priest of Mars. 
It was not the nature of the sacrifice itself 
that excited in him any degree of wonder ; 
but the performance of it, without any ac- 
knowledged and competent authority. 

The Hindus, also, of whose real charac- 
ter, so little is generally known in Europe, 
and of whose extreme sensibility to the suf- 
ferings of the meanest animals, we have so 
often heard, are, by no means, wanting in 



t Dion ^ lib. xliiL 



VICARIOUS RESPONSIBILITY, &C. 51 

examples of human sacrifice. Of the ex- 
treme sensibility of those, who, without 
any apparent emotion, can sacrifice a fel- 
low creature ; and, if we apply the remark 
to the Jahrejahs, who with perfect apathy, 
can put their own infant progeny to death ; 
we have certainly a good right to suspend 
our belief ; whatever we may admit, con- 
cerning their abhorrence of killing a cow ? 
or treading upon a reptile. 

Sacrifice of every kind derives its origin 
from the notion of the transference of guilt 
already committed ; whereas the responsi- 
bility of the Raj-gur authorises, the com- 
mission of it in the future. Very extraor- 
dinary, however, and very absurd, as such 
a notion seems, and certainly is, it bears a 
marked resemblance to that involved in the 
indulgences granted by the Roman see ; 
the extravagant abuse of which, first rous- 
ed the attention of thinking men, and, by 
the divine blessing, issued in the glorious 
reformation from Popery. They both agree 
in being prospective in their power of can- 



58 FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GUZERAT. 

celling guilt. They differ in this, that the 
indulgence granted by the Raj-gur extend- 
ed to the commission of only one species 
of crime, whilst that of the Vatican extend- 
ed to all ; the pope drew from the hoarded 
stores of righteousness and good works, 
that had been accumulated by the saints 
of former ages ; but the Raj-gur engaged 
to endure, in his own person, the punish- 
ment, to which infanticide exposed the 
perpetrator, but to the cancelling of which, 
he pretended to no previous accumulation 
of merit. 

When men in this country, then, have 
wondered sufficiently at the absurdities, 
of which Hindus and their Raj-gurs are ca- 
pable, it may be edifying, and may be fa- 
vourable to their humility, to reflect, that a 
great part of Christendom, that their own 
progenitors, at one time, yielded to a delu- 
sion which differed from this, chiefly in 
being more extravagant ; and that, whilst 
the folly in the one case, was an outrage 
upon human reason; it was an outrage in 



VICARIOUS RESPONSIBILITY, &C. 59 

the other case, both against reason and re- 
velation. Taken as a whole, it might, per- 
haps, be satisfactorily proved, that popery, 
in its utmost corruption, was superior to 
Hinduism ; but it is not at all intended to 
compare the systems ; but incidentally to 
notice that one of the most extravagant 
dogmas of the Eastern system found a pa- 
rallel, in Europe, in a delusion equally pre- 
posterous. 

The notion involved in the responsibility 
j of the Raj-gurs, however, is neither limited 
to that order of men, nor restricted to the 
power of obliterating the guilt of infanti- 
cide. It is not only to be traced in other 
customs, but even appears to be the basis on 
which some of them rest. Of this kind, parti- 
cularly, are the patriotic suicides, practised 
in some parts of Guzerat ; and the effica- 
cy of sitting in Dhurna, w 7 hich are known 
to be prevalent in other parts of Hindus- 
tan, particularly in Benares 5 as well as in the 
peninsula. What may be called the es- 
sence of both of these practices, consists in 



60 FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GUZERAT. 

what, for the want of an appropriated terai, 
we may call the power of inflicting guilt 
upon another. 

The Dhurna is instituted to exact a debt, 
to enforce an obligation, or to obtain justice, 
when it is withheld by a person in authori- 
ty, and whom the ordinary course of jus- 
tice cannot easily reach. This is called 
sitting in Dhurna, because the person, who 
has recourse to it, seats himself in the pre- 
sence of the person, against whom he wish- 
es to make good his claim, or as near him , 
as he can. The Dhurna is more or less 
rigorous according to circumstances ; but 
both parties continue fasting till one of 
them yields. If the person establishing 
the Dhurna become the victim of absti- 
nence, the guilt of his death is transferred 
to him whose refusal, to perform the obli- 
gation of justice, had been the cause of it. 
It is commonly instituted for the redress 
of a personal injury, and is practised by all 
casts. 

Analogous to Dhurna is what is called 



VICARIOUS RESPONSIBILITY, TRAGGA. 61 

Tragga, but still more cruel and violent in 
its nature, and less extensively approved. 
Its observance is generally to be found 
among the more rude and uncivilized tribes. 
Among these the securities for almost eve- 
ry species of engagement, or contract, are 
an order of men called Bhats, for whom the 
natives have a peculiar reverence, and who 
resemble, in many respects, our ancient 
bards. They are poets, panegyrists, and 
chronologers. Upon the failure of every ap- 
plication for redress, they proceed to wound 
themselves ; and if this fails to produce the 
desired effect, they have recourse to the 
last extremity, and die by their own hand. 
In some cases, the life of the Bhat is sav- 
ed by the substitution of another victim, 
which, however, must be voluntary. The 
death of the suicide, or the murder of the 
victim, is laid to the charge of the person, 
who was guilty of the oppression, which cau- 
sed the complaint. 

The Bhats form a connecting link be- 
tween the native governments, and the 



62 FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GUZERAT. 

more rude and turbulent tribes. — This cus- 
tom, so barbarous in its nature, Colonel 
Walker had the merit of abolishing. Shock- 
ed at the cruelty and revolting nature of 
the practices, connected with Bhat security, 
and the actual execution of the pledge, he 
represented to the Guicawar government 
the propriety and policy of prohibiting the 
commission of Tragga. As the person, 
then at the head of the Guicawar army, 
was a man of intelligence and humanity, 
the Colonel met with no opposition in car- 
rying his benevolent views into effect. 

To the Bhats, the measure was by no 
means disagreeable. They were now en- 
joined, after the influence of their own cha- 
racters, and endeavours had failed of suc- 
cess, to report the circumstances to govern- 
ment, and, without committing any vio- 
lence on themselves, to await the instruc- 
tions of the constituted authorities. The 
evils attending Bhat security, therefore, 
it is reasonable to hope, are now for ever 
done away ; without losing the influence 



VICARIOUS RESPONSIBILITY, TRAGGA. 63 



and agency of the order, which are conge- 
nial to the habits, the manners, and the 
prejudices of those rude tribes, over whom 
their influence alone, would probably in 
their present state, be of avail. # 

* It may be proper to advert more particularly to 
the circumstances of the Bhats, and to the interposi- 
tion of Colonel Walker in the case alluded to. 

The Bhats were originally Brahmins, but were ex- 
pelled their cast for neglect of duty. Being outcasts, 
and without the means of subsistence, they are said to 
have supplicated the goddess Chandee, who conferred 
on them the " Kubbut Wida," or art of composing 
poetry. This talent they employed in celebrating the 
achievements of contemporary chiefs and warriors. 
From their profession of soothing with praises, and 
exciting agreeable emotions, they received the name of 
Bhat, a Sanscrit compound, signifying a person who 
is attendant on joyous occasions. 

The practice of Tragga was first forcibly brought 
to Colonel Walker's notice by an occurrence at Mallia, 
where a Bhat had become security on the part of Dos- 
sajee, the Rajah, or chief of that district. When the 
time of payment arrived, Dossajee refused to fulfil his 
engagement. Having had recourse, without success, 
to every expedient, which could be supposed to move 
the compassion, or justice, of the chief, he resolved on 
the commission of Tragga, by putting one of his own 
children to death. He spent the night preceding the 
horrid act, in religious ceremonies, in company with a 



64* FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GUZERAT. 

Under the name of Tragga are known 
also what we have denominated patriotic 
suicides. They differ from the former in 
this, that they may be committed by any 

friend. In the morning he called his daughter, a fine 
girl of eight years of age, and desired her to prepare 
for being a sacrifice to save her father's character from 
dishonour. Sensible of the necessity under which her 
father was laid, she yielded herself a voluntary victim. 
After bathing and purification, she placed herself in 
an attitude, in which her father's sword could easily 
reach her neck ; and while she was holding aside her 
long hair with both her hands, he, with one stroke of 
his sabre, severed the head from the body. 

This transaction was related to Colonel Walker in a 
public Kutchery, in the presence of several hundred au- 
ditors, by the father himself, who minutely described 
the particulars with feeling and sorrow. His feeling 
and sorrow, however, did not arise from the idea of 
having contracted guilt, but of the hardness of his fate, 
and the injustice of Dossajee, which had compelled him 
to be the executioner of his own child. On the head 
of Dossajee, he considered her blood as resting. Colo- 
nel Walker took advantage of this public recital to im- 
press the assembly with the turpitude, infamy, and 
immorality of an act, so horrid and inhuman, and soon 
procured the engagement mentioned in the text. 

Tragga, however, is not always the last extremity. 
In ordinary cases the Bhat effects his purpose by cut- 
ting and wounding himself. 



VICARIOUS RESPONSIBILITY, &C. 65 

person, and by women as well as men. 
The object of them, is not, like the other, 
to redeem a pledge ; but to deter robbers 
and marauders, from the commission of de- 
predations, by the dread of being rendered 
responsible for the self-murder. 

Suicide, committed in such cases, instead 
of being regarded as disgraceful, is viewed 
as a generous and patriotic deed. It is as- 
sociated, in the mind of the Hindu, with 
that elevation of character, which consti- 
tutes the hero, who perils his life for the 
freedom of his country ; and on his tomb 
are inscribed his name, and the manner 
and cause of his death. 

Of these inscriptions, Colonel Walker has 
brought many with him from India. They 
are very simple, and very similar to one 
another. They state, that here lies such 
an one, who died by his own hand, on the 
occasion specified. # 

* The event is commemorated by engraving on 
stones, which are called Pallia. A pallia is erected to 
those only, who suffer a violent death, whether by their 

E 



66 FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GUZERAT. 

It is hoped that the analogy in principle 
between sitting in Dhurna and Tragga, and 
the vicarious responsibility of the Raj-gur, 
will be deemed a sufficient reason for the 
introduction of these notices concerning 
them, in this place ; and, that one of these 
customs has been abolished in the Peninsu- 
la by means of Colonel Walker, is an ad- 
ditional motive for saying something of it 
in an account of his labours in putting an 
end to infanticide. 

It may be worthy of remark, that Trag^ 
ga is not universally approved by the Hin- 

own hands, or those of others. The inscription men- 
tions the date and occasion of the event, with the name 
of the person. The inscription is generally accompa- 
nied by a figure, illustrative of the manner, in which the 
person suffered death, whether on horseback, in a car- 
riage, or on foot. — Pall is the name of the embankment 
of a tank. Pallia, therefore, metaphorically represent 
those, who have died in protecting a village, as its em- 
bankments, or ramparts ; and in attacking a place, an 
enemy will calculate the resistance he is to expect, by 
the number of pallia previously erected, to the valour 
or patriotism of its inhabitants. Pallia are the boast 
of a family or a village. — These monuments are also 
erected to women, who burn with their husbands. 



VICARIOUS RESPONSIBILITY, kc. 61 

.■• i •' 

dus ; and it will obviously occur, that this 
custom in its several kinds, as well as sit- 
ting in Dhurna, owe their existence, per- 
haps, solely to the partial administration of 
justice, and the vague and inefficient man- 
ner, in which evidence is expiscated, and 
proof led, among a rude and uncivilized 
people. To the same cause, no doubt, in 
connection with ignorance and supersti- 
tion, are to be traced the modes of trial 
termed the judgment of God, practised in 
Europe, during the middle ages, and of 
which a very accurate and interesting ac- 
count will be found in the preliminary vo- 
lume of Robertson's Charles V. Of these 
practices, the barbarism of duelling still 
remains the stigma of an enlightened age, 
notwithstanding its condemnation by the 
law of the land, and the reprobation, with 
which it is treated by every well-principled 
reflecting man. 

But we now return to the more imme- 
diate subject before us, and from which, it 
is presumed, that .no temptation to digress 
will afterwards occur. 

l 



CHAPTER FIFTH. 
Manner of destroying Female Infants. 

T he bare fact, unconnected with illustra- 
tion or detail, that there are human beings, 
so lost to every principle and feeling of 
our common nature, as to destroy their 
own infant offspring ; is calculated to fill 
the mind with horror, and make the blood 
run cold. To pry farther into the shock- 
ing mysteries, and to tear off the veil, 
that would cover them with congenial dark- 
ness, may appear to some to be an unne- 
cessary, if not an impious, laceration pf hu- 
man sensibility. It is enough, it may be 
said, to know, that there are, or that there 
have been, perpetrators of such crimes, al- 
though we be not doomed to note all the 
parts of the systematic procedure. 



MANNER OF DESTROYING FEMALE INFANTS. 69 

If any reader of such sentiments %nd 
feelings should honour this work with a por- 
tion of his attention ; it is to be naturally 
inferred, that the title of this Chapter will 
warn him to pass it over without a perusal. 
But the matter will be viewed differently 
by minds, that have risen above such mor- 
bid sensibility, and that are fitted for en- 
countering the rough realities of human 
life. Curiosity is the necessary stimulus 
to the acquisition of knowledge, and men 
are prone to gratify it, though the know- 
ledge acquired should diminish, instead of 
increasing, their felicity, The traveller 
is not contented with sating the eye on 
the more lovely and gentle scenes of na- 
ture ; and with dwelling on the limpid 
stream, the sloping lawn, and the flowery 
mead. With deeper interest and keener 
excitement, he seeks the roaring cataract, 
ascends the lofty and precipitous mountain, 
surveys the awful cliff, or ventures to pe- 
netrate the cavern, whose recesses have re- 
mained yet unexplored. 



"?0 FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GUZERAT. 

In such contemplations, there is a spe- 
cies of pleasure, which predominates over 
the terrific ; and, although in the survey 
of what is analogous in the moral world, 
there be little, if any thing that deserves 
the name of pleasure ; there is yet a satis- 
faction in the knowledge acquired, which 
is compatible, at least, with the purest be- 
nevolence. This satisfaction alone is all 
that is to be at present expected. For in 
the details, now to be offered, we can pro- 
mise nothing pleasing to allay what is pain- 
ful, and nothing attractive to diminish dis- 
gust. For these reasons, our statement 
shall be as concise as perspicuity will ad- 
mit. 

It deserves to be remarked, that Colo- 
nel Walker found the Jahrejahs by no 
means communicative on the immediate 
subject of this Chapter. The practice of 
infanticide they avowed ; but they regard- 
ed, or affected to regard it, as a mark of 
honourable distinction. But although they 
spoke even with levity of the deed, it was 



MANNER OF DESTROYING FEMALE INFANTS. 71 

with extreme reluctance, that they were 
induced to explain the manner, in which it 
was perpetrated. 

Not to dilate, however, upon the diffi- 
culties encountered and overcome, in ac- 
quiring the needful information, but to pro- 
ceed to the communication of it, we may- 
begin by stating, that the time, when the 
female infant is put to death, is immedi- 
ately upon its birth. Its immediate de- 
struction is considered as a matter of course ; 
and seems to excite no feeling greater, or 
less, than indifference. The transaction, 
as might be expected, is private ; but that 
privacy is not meant to favour concealment, 
as no shame, nor punishtnent, is connected 
with the crime. 

According to the accounts of the Jahre- 
jahs themselves, however, the destruction 
of the infant immediately upon its birth, is 
necessary to the innocence of the action. 
Were the child permitted to live a day or 
two, and then be put to death, the perpe- 
trator would be viewed and treated, even 



72 FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GUZERAT. 

by the Jahrejahs, as barbarous and unfeel- 
ing. But although instances of this cool 
and deliberate infanticide were rare, Colo- 
nel Walker is of opinion that they did 
sometimes occur ; and his opinion is found- 
ed upon the evidence of a Jahrejah, who 
was reported to him as chargeable with the 
crime. # 

But there is no need of supposing them 
to form nice moral distinctions to account 
for the rarity of protracted infanticide. 
The commission of it immediately upon the 
birth of the child, naturally grows out of 
the cause, in which the crime originated. 
If trouble and expence were to be avoided 
at all, they were to be avoided in all their 
extent ; and we can imagine no reason for 
sparing the child for one day, if it were to 
be destroyed the next. 

We can easily suppose them, to imagine 
a degree of barbarity, in the one case, which 
does not exist in the other. But then we 

* Report, par, 8J9- 



MANNER OF DESTROYING FEMALE INFANTS. IS 

should consider it, not as the result of mo- 
ral discrimination, but of that instinctive 
feeling, which pervades all living nature, 
and with which the God of nature has 
warmed the fierce bosoms, even of the hy- 
aena and the tiger. When the infant off- 
spring is immediately destroyed, the paren- 
tal feeling has not had time, nor opportu- 
nity, to operate ; but when the maternal 
bosom has been employed in affording the 
means of life and nourishment to the help- 
less victim, even for the shortest assignable 
space of time, there is, and there must be, 
an elevation of the voice of nature, which 
cannot be altogether silenced. 

" Naturam expelles furca, tamen usque recurret" 

The birth of a daughter, indeed, among 
the Jahrejahs, is an event that is passed 
over in silence, as if nothing had occurred ; 
whilst that of a son is the occasion of os- 
tentatious joy and festive hilarity; This 
is marked by a striking peculiarity of 
phrase. If one of that tribe, upon the birth 



74> FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GUZERAT. 

of a daughter, be asked what his wife has 
brought him, his reply is, " Nothing ;" an 
expression, which, in the language and idi- 
om of the country, is considered a full and 
definite answer. 

From the result of Colonel Walker's en- 
quiries, it appears, that female infanticide 
was not always committed in the same 
manner. The truth is, that perfect unifor- 
mity was not to be expected in a deed, 
which might be substantially perpetrated 
in various ways ; and especially when that 
deed, as in the present case, was entirely 
unconnected with any species of ceremo- 
nial. When the feelings of nature had 
been mastered, the material act was easy ; 
and considering all the circumstances of 
the case, would be effected without a strug- 
gle, and perhaps without pain, on the part 
of the infant sufferer. It was in allusion to 
this facility, that one of them, upon being 
repeatedly interrogated about the manner 
of committing infanticide, vaguely replied, 
either to evade a definite answer, or to in- 



MANNER OF DESTROYING FEMALE INFANTS. 75 

dicate that he thought the question idle, 
" Where is the difficulty of blasting a 
flower ?" 

In answer to the Colonel's enquiries, he 
obtained from Wassonjee Eswarjee, " a 
Nagur Brahmin, who attended the camp in 
the quality of vakeel* from the Gondal 
chief," a written statement, of which the 
following is a translation. 

" When the wives of the Jahrejah Raja- 
putes are delivered of daughters, the wo- 
men, who happen to be with the mother, 
repair to the oldest man in the house. 
This person desires them to go to him, who 
is the father of the infant, and to do as he 
directs. On this the women go to the fa- 
ther, who desires them to do as is custom- 
ary, and so to inform the mother. 

" The women then repair to the mother, 
and tell her to act in conformity to their 
usage. The mother next puts opium on 
the nipple of her breast, which the child 
inhales with the milk, and dies. 

* Vakeel signifies an agent. 



76 FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GUZERAT. 

" The above is one custom, and the fol- 
lowing is another. When the child is born, 
they place the navel string on its mouth, 
in consequence of which it expires." # 

From conversations, which the Colonel 
had with several of the Jahrejahs, he was 
of opinion, that the above is by no means 
a very accurate statement of the fact ; and 
that of the various ways in which female 
infants are put to death, Wassonjee Eswar- 
jee has not given an exact account of any, 
It appears that opium is put into the mouth 
of the child, and that farther barbarities are 
thus rendered unnecessary. It may be, 
however, that, in some cases, the fatal drug 
has been administered in the way describ- 
ed by Wassonjee ; and that hence has ori- 
ginated the story, that the Jahrejahs drown 
their infant daughters in a vessel of milk. 
From careful investigation of the fact, it 
did not appear, that ever infanticide was 
committed literally in this manner ; but the 
notion of the child imbibing poison with the 

* Report, par. 66. 



MANNER OF DESTROYING FEMALE INFANTS. 77 

milk, might easily give rise to such a report, 
among a people, who are proverbially fond 
of exhibiting the simplest fact, in the gaudy 
drapery of allegory and figure. This no- 
tion might also derive some countenance 
from the expression ascribed to the father, 
w who, with brutal equivocation," says to 
the attendants, who inform him of the birth 
of a daughter, " Dhood pelauna" that is, 
let her drink milk. 

" This," says the Resident, speaking of 
Wassonjee's account of the matter, w this 
is but a popular story ; and, independent of 
the circumstance of few infants suckling 
immediately on the birth, the placing of 
opium upon the nipple would effectually 
prevent it." 

Upon the whole, it appears, that two 
modes of committing infanticide were pre- 
valent ; the one, by putting opium into the 
infant's mouth, and the other, by drawing 
the umbilical cord over its face. In the 
pne case, the vital spark was speedily ex- 



78 FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GUZERAT. 

tinguished, and in the other, respiration 
was stopped almost at its commencement. 

Well may it be said of such parents, that 
H cruel are their tender mercies;" yet in 
some cases, it appears, that female offspring 
were the objects of still less pity. Some- 
times natural debility and neglect were 
permitted to do the whole deed ; and at 
other times the feeble victim was laid on 
the ground, unheeded, or left on a plank to 
expire. When the infant was in any way 
destroyed, (and the Jahrejahs do not seem 
to have cared much what was the mode, 
provided it were efficient,) it was carried 
out naked in a small basket, and commit- 
ted to the dust, as unceremoniously, as it 
had been unfeelingly deprived of life. 

In Kattywar it is considered of little con- 
sequence who performs this last office. It 
is generally assigned to any female attend- 
ant without distinction. In Kutch, how- 
ever, it is connected with a certain species 
of ceremony, or perhaps we should rather 
say, of official privilege, which leads back 



MANNER OF DESTROYING FEMALE INFANTS. 79 



the mind to the origin of the custom, and 
seems, in some degree, to confirm the ac- 
count of it, which has been already given. 
In that country, the interment of the infant 
remains, is the duty, or the privilege of the 
Raj-gur, who receives a koree # and a meal, 
as the hire of office ; while the female Raj- 
gur, and not the mother, is the executioner 
of the infant victim. 

In this, we admit, that there is a com- 
parative decency and respect for nature. 
But the agent generally employed in this 
bloody deed, is characterised by a relation, 
which is associated with the highest and 
purest affections. For, " to render this 
deed," says Colonel Walker,* " if possible 
more horrible, the mother is commonly the 
executioner of her own offspring. Women 
of rank may have their slaves and attend- 
ants, who perform this office, but the far 

* A koree is a small coin, equivalent in value to the 
third of a rupee, that is, ten pence sterling. 
* Report, par. 75. 



80 FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GUZERAT. 

greater number execute it with their own 
hands." 

Besides the written statement from Was- 
sonjee Eswarjee, and the more accurate in- 
formation, obtained by conversations with 
the Jahrejahs, of which the substance has 
been detailed, Colonel Walker, who lost no 
opportunity of perfecting, as far as possible, 
his knowledge of the subject, received a 
communication of considerable length, and 
apparent accuracy, from Jahrejah Dadajee, 
chief of Rajcote.f It is valuable, as con- 
firming what has been already related, ra- 
ther than as containing much new matter. 

Dadajee, who himself had a daughter 
alive, when he made his communication to 
the Resident, states, that, in Kutch, many 
of the Jahrejahs preserve their female off- 
spring. When this is to be done, the fa- 
ther intimates such a wish to the mother 
previously to her delivery, and his pleasure 
is invariably obeyed ; but the wish of the 

f Report. Appendix, No. 19. 



MANNER OF DESTROYING FEMALE INFANTS. 81 

mother, unless where she has great influ- 
ence over her husband, is of itself of no 
avail. 

If the father has made no previous inti- 
mation to spare a female child, it is almost 
invariably put to death, immediately upon 
its birth. This chief relates, that there is 
no fixed mode of terminating the existence 
of these feeble and unresisting victims ; but 
that, in general, agreeably to the accounts 
already given, it is effected by opium, or 
by suffocation with the umbilical cord. The 
short life being thus dispatched, they are 
buried in the state in which they were born, 
without being wrapped up in any kind of 
clothes, and without undergoing any puri- 
fication. It was Dadajee, who, upon being 
farther interrogated relative to the mode 
of committing infanticide, replied : " What 
difficulty is there in blasting a flower ?" 

We have now brought to a close the in- 
formation, which it seemed proper to com- 
municate, on this unpleasant subject. We 
shall not occupy our pages with represent- 



82 FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GUZERAT. 

ing all the possible variety of emotions, 
which the preceding details may have pro- 
duced ; yet we cannot help picturing the 
tender and enlightened mother in these 
happy lands, as pressing her infant daugh- 
ter, with double fondness, to her bosom, 
and heaving the aspiration of gratitude to 
the Father of mercies, for her favoured lot 
and refined enjoyments, for the pure plea- 
sures of present parental endearment, and 
all the fond hopes of the future. We would 
follow her a little farther, and imagine her, 
instead of hurling the unmitigated censure 
of condemnation against her less favoured 
sisters in the East, giving vent to the throb 
of pitying emotion, accompanied with the 
ardent wish, that they may soon enjoy all 
the advantages, to which alone her own 
superiority is to be traced. 

i 



CHAPTEll SIXTH, 



Instances of Jahrejahs, who saved their Infant 

Daughters. 

^Vhere custom, interest, and prejudice 
are in favour of a rule, and where its ob- 
servance is farther enforced by the terror 
of the " world's dread laugh," we cannot 
expect the instances, in which it will be ne- 
glected, to be many. Nature, it is true, is, 
in the present case, in favour of exceptions ; 
yet, when her authority has been once 
superseded, the ingrafted habit is general- 
ly found to be more powerful than even 
the original principle ; and hence the pro- 
verb, that " custom is a second nature." 
When we allow, therefore, their due weight 
to custom, and other concomitant circum- 
stances, in determining the general tenor 



84< FEMALE INFANTl'CIDE IN GUZERAT. 

of human conduct, we shall be prepared to 
ascribe no ordinary degree of merit, of 
firmness and decision of character, not to 
speak of the gentler virtues, in which they 
originate, to such of the Jahrejahs as, in 
the general prevalence of female infanti- 
cide, saved their daughters. And, amid 
the gloomy and dreadful scene, what a re- 
lief must such instances prove to the eye 
of moral sensibility ! We are touched with 
the modest elegance of the violet, even in 
the cultured garden, where it is surrounded 
by a rich variety of all that is sweet and 
beautiful in nature ; but how would all its 
attractions increase, were we to find it 
amid the lone and arid waste ! 

To the reader, who has followed us 
through the unpleasing details, from which 
we have just escaped, we imagine there 
will be an analogous pleasure, in contem- 
plating the assertors of human nature, who 
saved their daughters, amid the general 
prevalence of a contrary practice. Whilst, 
however, some of the instances to be re- 



INSTANCES OF SAVING THEIR DAUGHTERS. 85 

corded, must be ascribed to purity of pa- 
rental feeling, and firmness of character; 
others, it will be perceived, originated in 
very different, and less honourable, causes. 

From the evidence laid before him, 
Colonel Walker concludes, that the prac- 
tice of female infanticide has been relin- 
quished, with the exception of one tribe, by 
those Jahrejahs, who continue in Scind.* 
When we consider the circumstances, to 
which, this relinquishment is to be ascribed, 
we shall be constrained to qualify the ap- 
probation, with which we should otherwise 
connect it. 

The great object of the Jahrejahs, in mi- 
grating southward from Scind, was to shake 
off the Mahomedan yoke, to which they 
had been subjected, and the profession of 
the Mahomedan faith, which had been ex- 
torted from them. Let us disapprove then, 
or despise, as we will, the peculiarities, which 
they valued, and which they used such ef- 

f Report, par. 93, 94. 



86 FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GUZERAT. 

forts to preserve, we must respect that 
mind, of which the love of freedom is a pro- 
minent characteristic, and in which there 
is courage to defend what it deems valu- 
able. Now, if we cannot but praise the 
principle, in which the general migration 
originated, we shall have no approbation to 
bestow on those, who, by not joining in it, 
deserted the cause of their brethren, and 
the cause, which they themselves could not 
but approve. Those who settled in Kutch 
and Guzerat, continued infanticide from 
pride, convenience, and custom ; and those 
who remained in Scind, abandoned it, be- 
cause it was contrary to the Mahomedan 
faith, which, without conviction, they had 
embraced, and the customs of the people, 
among whom, from a dastardly spirit, and 
not from affection, they had been induced 
to live. 

We must regard, in a very different 
light, those who have abandoned the unna- 
tural crime of infanticide, while living in a 
country where it is respected ; and where. 



INSTANCES QF SAVING THEIR DAUGHTERS. 87 

with the small exception of themselves, it 
is universally practised. It appears, that 
there are a few such Jahrejah families in 
Kutch. Some of them have relinquished 
the practice partially ; but in the case of 
others, the abandonment has been com- 
plete. 

The names of those who have entirely 
and systematically (so far as could be as- 
certained,) discontinued the horrid custom, 
Colonel Walker has inserted in his report 
to Government ; and although the mention 
of them cannot serve the same purpose in 
this country, which it might do there, still 
they should not be forgotten.* To us, it 
is true, they are merely barbarous sounds ; 
but they will come softened and sweetened 
on the ear of philanthropy, by the circum- 
stances now related. 

* The Jahrejah families in Kutch, who preserve their 
daughters, are Bulach, Bottan, Sar, Kubbur, Hottee, 
Ubra, Jarria, Guffun, Murasee, Mokarra, Kaya, Re- 
treca, Mor, Row, .Tessa, Dessa, Danrar, Deteea, Joreea, 
Adreea, Verai, Kunerde, and Veem. Par. 96. Some 
of these are families of respectability* 



i 



88 FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GUZERAT. 

In the Peninsula of Guzerat, no such 
large exceptions were to be found. Occa- 
sional instances occurred of individuals sav- 
ing their female offspring ; and what is not 
a little distressing to the friend of humani- 
ty, few of these instances could be traced 
to purity of principle, and decision of cha- 
racter. By the acknowledgment of these 
Jahrejahs themselves, they had not been 
led to rear their daughters from the influ- 
ence of natural affection, or parental feeling, 
but from personal and selfish considera- 
tions. For the persons, among whom these 
instances occurred, are Shravuck Banians, 
or disciples of Jena, whose creed is distin- 
guished by the rigid maintenance of the 
doctrine of metempsychosis, or transmigra- 
tion of the soul through various orders of 
animal existence, till it be purified from all 
its guilt. This sect consider it a sin to 
kill any living thing, however mean and 
even noxious ; and therefore, we discover, 
at once, why infanticide should be relin- 



INSTANCES OF SAVING THEIR DAUGHTERS. 89 



quished by the few followers they have 
among the race of Jahrejahs. # 

Besides the exceptions to the prevalence 
of infanticide, originating in the doctrine of 
Jena, a very few individual instances were 
discovered, of which we shall see that some 
only are to be ascribed to more honourable 
causes. 

The first case that shall be mentioned, al- 
though it originated in the influence of con- 

* The Shravucks are a numerous sect in Guzerat, 
though there be not many instances of their making 
proselytes among the Jahrejahs. Living among a war- 
like and turbulent people, they maintain extensive in- 
fluence, without having recourse to the use of arms. 
Following the profession of merchants, they acquire 
considerable wealth ; and by lending money, which they 
always do at the most usurious interest, to the ferocious 
chiefs in their neighbourhood, they are frequently able 
to controul their schemes. The origin of what is pecu- 
liar and striking in their character, is to be traced to 
their belief in the transmigration of the souls of men 
into the bodies of beasts. So powerful is the operation 
of this principle among them, that, besides their own 
personal abstinence, they bribe the chiefs to deny to 
themselves and their subjects the use of fish for food, 
and to protect them in the rivers and tanks, and even in 
some parts of the sea on the coast of Katty war. 



00 FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GUZERAT. 

science, is, in every respect, very singular : 
—The Jahrejah Mokajee of Anundgur, one 
of the Byaud # of the Gondal chief, after liv- 
ing, for a short time, in the relation of hus- 
band, abandoned all conjugal intercourse, 
lest he should become the father of a 
daughter. As a Jahrejah, he was zealous 
for a practice, which he connected with the 
honour of his tribe ; but he had adopted 
the principles of a sect, which were incom- 
patible with that inhuman custom. In 
short, Mokajee had adopted the tenets of 
the Kubeer Punts, a sect of Berajees, f so 
named from Kubeer, the founder of it, a re- 
puted saint, who flourished about three 
hundred years ago. 

Considering his circumstances, the at- 
tainments Kubeer had made, were certain- 
ly respectable. Rejecting the Shasters and 
Vedas, his followers assert the unity and 
indivisibility of Deity ; and maintain, that, 
in this One God is centred every attribute, 

* Brethren, brotherhood, or fraternity. 

f A numerous religious sect, followers of Vishnu* 



INSTANCES OF SAVING THEIR DAUGHTERS. 91 

ascribed by the Hindus to innumerable di- 
vinities. The Avataras, or incarnations, 
they reject, together with the authority of 
the books, where the accounts of them are 
found ; and having emerged so far out of 
the darkness and mists of fable, it was io 
be expected that they would renounce all 
confidence in the ceremonial of Hindu wor- 
ship, and particularly in the purification of 
the soul, by washing the body in their great 
rivers. This sect place their hope of ac- 
ceptance, in the sincerity, and not in the 
ceremonies of their devotion ; in connection 
with good works, with which the practice 
of infanticide is obviously incompatible. 

Being a high-minded Jahrejah, and 3. 
zealous Kubeer Punt, Mokajee was impeL- 
led by motives, which counteracted one 
another, and led him to adopt that state of 
wedded celibacy, to which we have refer- 
red. Against this resolution, his friends 
and relatives urged him repeatedly, but in 
vain. They at length assembled for the 
purpose of devising some method, by which 



92 FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GUZERAT. 

the misfortune, as they deemed it, of his 
dying childless, might be prevented. The 
result of this consultation was the follow- 
ing expedient : Kombajee, the late Gondal 
chief, as Teclaat, or head of the family, en- 
joined him, publicly and solemnly, to pre- 
serve his infant daughters. 

What Mokajee formerly considered a 
duty, which he owed to the honour of hi& 
tribe, had now changed its nature ; and the 
principles of his creed were allowed their 
full sway, without any counteracting in- 
fluence. He returned, accordingly, to the 
conjugal relation, which he had abandoned, 
and became the father of four daughters in 
succession. This again exposed him to the 
ridicule of the Jahrejahs ; but he, who could 
maintain a principle, which he approved, 
in opposition to his natural and obvious 
interests, could experience little diffi- 
culty, in philosophically supporting a sneer, 
especially when he had the approbation of 
conscience, and the pleasure of parental 
feeling, on his side. 



INSTANCES OF SAVING THEIR DAUGHTERS. 93 

The daughters of Mokajee were alive 
when the report, on which this narrative is 
founded, was written, and were then mar- 
ried to the chiefs of Drangudva, Wudwam, 
Limree, and Wancaneer. 

In the character of Mokajee, there is 
certainly something great. To the man 
that could perceive and abandon the weak 
superstitions, in which he had been educa- 
ted, and which had been fostered by early 
associations, for the tenets of a purer and 
sublimer creed, in connection with the cir- 
cumstances already related ; we must as- 
cribe no ordinary degree of penetration, and 
no vulgar degree of magnanimity. But 
there is no principle, on which we can ac- 
count for the manner, in which he viewed 
the necessity of infanticide, previously to 
the command of his chief.* 

* Concerning the head of the sect, whose principles 
Mokajee had adopted, we are told : " Kubeer himself 
was a Mahomedan, by cast, and a weaver, by profes- 
sion. His disciples may be either Mahomedans, or 
Hindus. On his death, the Mahomedans claimed a 
right to bury him, the Hindus to burn him,, in conse- 



94< FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GUZERAT. 

The next instance, which comes to fee 
related of an individual saving a female 
child, amid the prevalence of infanticide, 
is that of the chief of Kersura. A daugh- 
ter, whom he brought up, was, when the 
Resident's report was written, wife of Wujee 
Sing, eldest son of the Thakur # of Bhow- 
naggur. But, in the chief of Kersura, it 
was neither natural affection, nor the claims 
of unbending principle, to which his daugh- 
ter owed her preservation. On the part 
of the father^ the material act was unques- 
tionably good ; but the motive, in which 
it originated, was, as unquestionably, mean 
and mercenary. It was, in fact, the very 

quence of which, they quarrelled, and placed a sheet over 
the corpse, which, when they withdrew, they found the 
upper part of his body to be metamorphosed into a 
Toolsee plant, the favourite nymph of Krishna ; the 
lower part into Rehan, an odoriferous herb of a green 
colour, the colour of the prophet Mahomed." — Report, 
par. 125. 

* Thakur, a dignity inferior to a Rajah. It is one 
of the names of God, and, in a profane sense, is used 
synonymously with our word Lord, when applied to a 
nobleman. 



INSTANCES OF SAVING THEIR DAUGHTERS. 95 

same principle, to which infanticide owed 
its continuance, if not its origin. For the 
preservation of this lady is to be ascribed 
to an Arab Jemadar, # who presented to 
the chief, on the express condition that he 
would save his daughter* all the arrears of 
pay, which he had earned in his service, 
and of which the amount was considerable. 

Of the individual instances hitherto re- 
corded, of parents preserving their daugh- 
ters, in opposition to the prevalence of a 
contrary practice, among the Jahrejahs, 
we have found little to commend, as true 
to the feelings of nature. It is gratifying 
to have now others to notice, which origi- 
nated in principles, that claim our simple 
and unqualified approbation. 

The first we shall mention is the case of 
Dadajee, who has been already mentioned, 
as having made important communications 
to Colonel Walker, on the subject of infan- 

* Jemadar, or Jamadar, a military officer. The 
commander of a body of troops. 



96 FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GUZER AT. 

ticide. This person, a Jahrejah of distinc- 
tion, and chief of Rajkote, preserved the 
only daughter, so far as is known, that ever 
he had ; and his conversation and manners 
impressed the Resident with the full con- 
viction, that his conduct, in this respect, 
was to be ascribed, solely to the operation 
of principle and parental affection. 

The case of Hootajee, the chieftain of 
Kotara Sangane, is yet more interesting. 
Hootajee, who has saved all his female off- 
spring, " is," we are told, " a professed 
robber," with whom sentiment and feeling 
might be supposed to be strangers." His 
profession did not prevent Colonel Walker 
from having frequent intercourse with him ; 
and, from the account of him, contained 
in the Report, it is probable, that the phi- 
lanthropic and inquisitive mind of the Re- 
sident seldom received, in Guzerat, so 
much gratification, as in the conversation 
of Hootajee. # 

* The union of the characters of a chief, and of a pro- 



INSTANCES OF SAVING THEIR DAUGHTERS. 97 

With the rough aspect, and manners of 
a barbarian, Hootajee possessed that high- 
toned feeling, and decision of mind, which 
raised him above the brutal, but deep-root- 
ed prejudices and practice of his tribe. He 
had two daughters, who, in 1808, were 
from six to eight years of age. They 
were, at that time, brought to the camp 
in Kattywar, where they were vaccinated. 
Besides the peculiarity of their circum- 
stances, which could not fail to excite the 
sympathy of a feeling heart, there was 
something very interesting in their persons 
and manners. " I observed," — says Colo- 
nel Walker,— 64 I observed their father ca- 
ressing them with pleasure, and exulting 

fessed robber, seem, no doubt, to be discordant ; and it 
may not be easy to present a precise idea of it. The 
best illustration of a person uniting robbery with the 
capacity of leader, may perhaps be found in the Maho- 
medan states on the borders of the Mediterranean. A 
near resemblance may be traced, also, in the black mail 
chiefs of ancient times, in the Highlands of Scotland, . 
and on the southern border. The existence of such a 
character implies a rude state of society, in which per- 
sons and property are but partially protected by law. 

G 



98 FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GUZERAT. 

in them with true parental satisfaction." 
Who would wish to call that man his 
friend, who could read, unmoved, these sim- 
ple lines ! % 

That the destruction of their female off- 
spring was connected, by the Jahrejahs, 
with the point of honour, seemed more 
strikingly marked, by some circumstances, 
in the character and dress of these girls, 
than by any thing else, that was brought 
to notice. They wore turbans, and in eve- 
ry other respect, were habited like boys. 
Of their sex they seemed to be ashamed ; 
or to connect "the apprehension of danger 
with the avowal of it ; and accordingly 
they assured Colonel Walker, that they 
were not girls, and appealed to their father 
for the veracity of their statement. — Alas ! 
that ever the idea of crime should be as- 
sociated in the human mind with obedience 

* These interesting children, it is understood, have 
both died since the period now referred to. 



Instances of saving their daughters. 99 

to the dictates of nature, and the appoint- 
ments of Heaven ! 

The only other instance, which came to 
Colonel Walker's knowledge, of a Jahrejah 
preserving his daughters from the syste- 
matic destruction of infanticide, is that of 
the Chief of Mallia. And in connection 
with this fact, it will, no doubt, excite sur- 
prise, that this very man should have been 
one of the last, who subscribed the docu- 
ment for abolishing the horrid practice. 
The daughter of this chief, however, owed 
her preservation to a more mixed prin- 
ciple, than that, which we discover in the 
two preceding cases. It originated in the 
influence of her mother. But where the 
female character is, in general, so much 
depressed below the level, which it ought 
to hold, we should honour the man, by 
whom it was respected. 

Such is the whole knowledge* which, 

* In speaking of exceptions to the practice of female 

infanticide, we must be understood as speaking only of 

3 



100 FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GUZERAT. 

by a minute and careful investigation, Co- 
lonel Walker acquired, on this important 
subject. We owe him much for ascertain- 
ing the fact, of female children being pre- 
served, amid the prevalence of infanticide ; 
and yet more for determining, with as much 
philosophical precision, as the case would 
admit, the motives and principles, to which 
the exceptions are to be ascribed. By the 
philosopher of human nature, these excep- 
tions will be valued as important facts, ex- 
tending the knowledge of his species ; and, 
by the philanthropist, they will be viewed 
with feelings of peculiar interest. They 
will be regarded as the gleanings of genu- 
ine feeling in the wilds of moral desola- 
tion. 

legitimate daughters. Towards the female children of 
Rackelees, or mistresses, they acted with more appa- 
rent, and less real regard, as we shall have occasion to 
notice, in the next Chapter. 



CHAPTER SEVENTH. 



How the Jahrejahs obtain Wives — Concubinage—* 
Polygamy — Illegitimate Children, 

The preceding narrative will naturally 
suggest to the intelligent reader several 
interesting and important enquiries, of 
which the solution cannot fail to throw 
some additional light upon the principles 
of our common nature. 

We have contemplated a race of human 
beings systematically destroying their in- 
fant offspring of one sex ; and thereby, as 
we should, at first sight, imagine, providing 
the means of their own speedy and final 
extirpation. But they have continued the 
practice for ages, and still they exist. 



102 FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GUZERAT. 

How is it, then, that they obtain wives ? 
For, that they do obtain them, is manifest 
from those very outrages on human nature, 
with which they are chargeable. That 
they do not experience much difficulty, 
in the acquisition, is likewise apparent. 
For, leaving all consideration of human 
feeling out of view, for the present, and re- 
ferring to the principles of cold and calcu- 
lating convenience alone, by which the 
conduct of the Jahrejahs seems to be regu- 
lated; the problem reduces itself to a sim- 
ple arithmetical operation, to ascertain 
whether there be more trouble and expense 
in rearing their daughters, by which all dif- 
ficulty in obtaining wives is removed ; or, 
in obtaining them in some other way, by 
which the necessity of yielding to the pa- 
rental impulse is superseded. The dis- 
gusting facts, to which our attention has 
been directed, do not permit us to doubt, 
on which side of this dilemma, the Jahre- 
jahs imagined their interest to lie. 

It is obvious, however, that female infan- 



HOW THE JAHREJAHS OBTAIN WIVES, &C. 103 

ticide cannot prevail among the people, 
with whom the Jahrejahs intermarry ; and, 
therefore, it is natural to imagine, that the 
practice must be held in abhorrence by 
them. Is it, then, from a feeble, subjugat- 
ed, and unresisting race, that they obtain 
wives, who are reluctantly torn from more 
gentle society, and from parents, whose bo- 
soms are warmed by more kindly feeling ? 
Or, do they, like the fierce followers of Ro- 
mulus, whilst yet unconsolidated into a 
state, sally forth upon the unsuspecting, 
and carry off their women, as other mau- 
raders do common booty? But, having ob- 
tained them, in any of these ways, or in 
any other way, how is it that the female 
heart, so peculiarly the seat of sensibility, 
can be brought to submit to that laceration 
of feeling, to which the knowledge of her 
circumstances must give rise ? At the 
prospect of those horrors, which must pre- 
sent themselves to maternal affection, does 
not the heart wither away with wretched- 
ness ? does not life become painful beyond 



104* FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GUZERAT. 

endurance ? and, by excess of unutterable 
woe, bring to a speedy termination such 
extremity of anguish ? 

In Europe, and particularly in our own 
happy country, where the female character 
is evolved in all the loveliness and attrac- 
tion, which conspiring art and nature can 
communicate, these questions and conjec- 
tures must be unavoidably suggested ; but 
they would not occur to one, who is some- 
what familiar with the people of Hindus- 
tan. Men are prone to judge of every 
country by their own, and of the whole hu- 
man race, by that portion of it, with which 
they are conversant ; to confound the re- 
sults of education with those of nature ; 
the effects of moral culture with the spon- 
taneous suggestions of the untutored mind ; 
and to overlook the distinction between 
mere possibility and actual attainment. 
But an enlarged view of the matter will 
render the conclusion unavoidable, that the 
superiority of one race of mankind over an- 
other is to be ascribed, not to nature, 

4 



HOW THE JAHREJAHS OBTAIN WIVES, &C. 105 

which has bestowed her favours equally on 
both, but to the political and moral circum- 
stances, in which they are placed. 

In reply to the queries, suggested by 
the circumstances of the Jahrejahs, we 
have no occasion for curious theoretical spe- 
culations. The actual state of things is 
presented to us in a few simple facts, ad- 
mitting of no dubiety of interpretation, 
and pointing, for their origin, to the moral 
condition of the people themselves. Were 
we placed in their circumstances, we would 
act as they do ; and were they in ours, 
they would be as much astonished at our 
conduct, as we now are at theirs. 

The Jahrejahs experience no difficulty in 
obtaining wives. Nor do they find it ne- 
cessary to have recourse to subject tribes. 
— In reply to enquiries, which Colonel 
Walker made on this subject, he was early 
informed, that the difficulty the Jahrejahs 
experienced in obtaining wives was so 
great, that they had been frequently redu- 
ced to the necessity of marrying slaves, and 



106 FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GUZERAT. 

women of spurious birth. This answer, be- 
ing strongly supported by probability, would 
have appeared to most men to be quite sa- 
tisfactory ; but it would have been as re- 
mote from the fact, as error can be from 

Colonel Walker's unostentatious com- 
munications to Government are valuable, on 
account of the philosophical accuracy, which 
directed his philanthropy. And, indeed, 
had the one of these qualities existed with- 
out the other, we should have had little 
knowledge of the real character of the Jah- 
rejahs ; and, what we did possess under the 
form of knowledge, would have been mere- 
ly false principles, on which false conclu- 
sions alone could be built. 

Having obtained the information, which 
has been stated, the Colonel enquired of 
Jusajee whether it were the fact, that the 
Jahrejahs generally married women of spu- 
rious birth. But, instead of regarding this 
as a question which merited a reply, he 
seemed to view it as an intentional and 



HOW THE JAHREJAHS OBTAIN WIVES, &C. 107 

pointed insult, and to be moved only with 
indignation. When the benevolent que- 
rist, however, had removed his misappre- 
hension, and convinced him that nothing 
was more remote from his intention, than 
the thought of giving him just cause of of- 
fence, Jussajee assured him, that no temp- 
tation can induce a Jahrejah to form ma- 
trimonial connections with women of ille- 
gitimate origin ; and that even the poorest 
of them are solicitous to avoid the taint of 
blood, which, they conceive, would be com- 
municated by such an alliance. He ac- 
knowledged that the Thakur of Banwur, 
influenced by political motives, had been 
affianced to such a daughter of Meroo 
Khawass ; but the contract had never been 
completed ; nor the woman admitted into 
the Thakur's house, f Indeed it appears, 
that, as the Jahrejahs have a repugnancy 
to such connections, so they have no temp- 
tation to form them. For they obtain the 



Report, par. 144, 14$. 



108 FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GUZERAT. 



daughters of any of the numerous races of 
Rajputes, and even find their facilities such 
as to allow of their being nice in selecting 
from the most respectable families. # 

It is obvious that these tribes had it in 
their power to abolish infanticide among 
the Jahrejahs, by refusing their daughters 

* They are furnished with wives by the Jhalla, Wa- 
gela, Goil, Churassumma,'Purmar, Surweys, Soda, Jait- 
wa, Wala, and Wadal tribes ; but there seems to be a 
general preference in favour of the Jhallas. 

From the Jaitwas, the Jahrejahs cannot have obtain- 
ed any wives for a long time ; as it is more than a cen- 
tury since any grown up daughters have been seen 
among them. This fact is to be accounted for only by 
admitting, that female infanticide was prevalent among 
them. Of this, indeed, there seems no reason to doubt ; 
for, although they allow that the practice is sinful, and 
do not openly avow it, they signed the instrument of 
abolition, as well as the Jahrejahs. Among them, how- 
ever, this outrage on human nature is of comparatively 
recent origin ; and may, without much hesitation, be 
ascribed to the example of the Jahrejahs, in concur- 
rence with base and mercenary motives. " The influ- 
ence of example and communication," says Colonel 
Walker, (and the remark is of a cheering, as well as 
of a saddening nature,) " is capable of procuring converts 
to the most criminal and flagitious courses." Report, 
par. 164—169. 



HOW THE JAHREJAHS OBTAIN WIVES, &C. 109 

in marriage, except upon the condition of 
their rearing their female offspring. In- 
stead, however, of adopting a remedy, so 
simple and sure, they seem never to have 
thought of it ; or rather, to have been sub- 
ject to the same apathy as the unnatural 
perpetrators of the crime. Not only, in- 
deed, have they not discountenanced it ; 
but they have knowingly allowed their 
daughters to be the murderers of their own 
offspring. 

Betrothed at an early age, the future 
wives of the Jahrejahs are imbued with 
prejudices in favour of the habits and prac- 
tices of their destined husbands ; and are 
prepared for being murderers, before they 
are mothers. Capable of the same refine- 
ment of sentiment and feeling as those of 
their sex, in our own country ; they not 
only transgress that law of nature, to which 
they owe their own existence ; but, as we 
shall have occasion to notice, in the sequel 
of this narrative, they have, in some in- 
stances, actually become advocates of the 



110 FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GUZERAT. 

horrid practice. But of the female charac- 
ter it would be improper to judge, when 
placed in circumstances, in which blind, 
indiscriminate, and unreflecting acquies- 
cence is deemed its highest ornament, 
and most indispensible qualification :■ — in 
circumstances, in which woman is not the 
companion, the counsellor, and the friend ; 
but the slave of man. 

In pronouncing upon the characters of 
those tribes, who bestow their daughters 
upon the Jahrejahs ; we are not to rest in 
imputing to them the guilt of being indif- 
ferent spectators of the crime of infanti- 
cide. We must charge them as partici- 
pants, both in the motive and the deed. 
That the abolition of the practice was in 
their power, we have already seen. Why, 
then, did they not avail themselves of the 
power they possessed, to enforce the dic- 
tates of nature, to which, in their own prac- 
tice, they yielded obedience ? 

By the documents before us, we are 
borne out in answering, that they failed to 



HOW THE JAHftEJ AHS OBTAIN WIVES, &C. Ill 

enforce these dictates of nature for the 
very same reason that the Jahrejahs vio- 
lated, and that they themselves obeyed 
them. They reared their daughters from 
mercenary motives ; and from mercenary 
motives the Jahrejahs destroyed them. 
The Jahrejahs destroyed their d?ajghters 
to avoid the expense and trouble, connect- 
ed with rearing them, and procuring for 
them husbands, according to their exag- 
gerated ideas of their own importance ; and 
the other Rajputes did not discourage the 
practice, on account of the facility it af- 
forded them of disposing of their own 
daughters. This abandonment of human 
sensibility, and disregard of their religion, 
(for crude as it is, it condemns the practice,) 
they attempted to excuse, or, at least, to 
palliate, by urging the usages of cast, and 
the impropriety of interfering with those 
pf the Jahrejahs. # 

This is obviously an instance of reason- 



Report, par. 57—61, and 76, 77, and 142. 



112 FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GUZERAT. 

ing from inclination, and not from con- 
viction ; and of superseding the paramount 
claims of truth and humanity, by the base 
considerations of convenience and interest. 
Would that this disposition to deceive, and 
to be deceived, were confined to the race 
of the Rajputes, or even to the vast regions 
of Hindustan ! 

It is not the object of this work to give 
a full length portrait of the Jahrejah, ar- 
rayed in all the costume of his moral, intel- 
lectual, and social habits. Yet to commu- 
nicate accurate notions of infanticide, which 
is the leading object, it is necessary occa- 
sionally to advert to associated topics, of 
which the connection with the main sub- 
ject may not, at first sight, be apparent. 
In a landscape, there must be distance, as 
well as fore ground, and shade, as well as 
light ; and even the principal object must 
be indebted for a part of its dignity to its 
association with others of inferior note. — 
As we have been naturally led, according- 
ly, to advert to the manner, in which the 



POLYGAMY, CONCUBINAGE, &C. 113 

Jahrejahs are furnished with wives ; we 
may be permitted to say a few words on 
their views of polygamy, concubinage, and 
illegitimate children. 

It was not ascertained, that the Jahre- 
jahs are limited, by any law, in the num- 
ber of their wives. While the legality of 
polygamy, therefore, is admitted, conveni- 
ence and inclination alone must dictate 
the extent, to which it shall be carried. 

Concubinage, as well as polygamy, is 
common among this people. # In the se- 
lection of a Rackelee, or mistress, however, 
the Jahrejah is not influenced by the pride 
of alliance, as in the selection of a wife. 
The Rackelee may be of any cast ; and 
even of Mahomedan, as well as of Hindu, 
origin. We are told, that, at the death of 
Rao Lacka, grandfather of the present 
chief of Kutch, fifteen of these females, of 
whom two were Mahomedan s of the coun- 
try, and one a Seeden, sacrificed themselves 



* Report, par. 146, 147. 
H 



114 FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GUZERAT. 

at his funeral pile ; but that none of his 
wives imitated the example. This revolt- 
ing deed, we are informed, is less expect- 
ed of the wives, than of the Rackelees. 
The last consider it a point of honour, and 
often appear keenly emulous of priority in 
the dreadful deed of self-immolation. 

Polygamy and concubinage being con- 
trary neither to law, nor custom, are, of 
course, not discreditable, in the intercourse 
of life. It should be noticed, however, 
that the man, who limits himself to one 
wife, is considered as exemplary and re- 
spectable. 

It is worthy of notice also, that a cus- 
tom prevails among them, and indeed a- 
mong the Hindu tribes in general, which 
has the force of law, and which, no doubt, 
originated in ancient political enactment, 
that a Jahrejah shall never be without a 
wife, beyond the age of puberty. Of this 
law, or custom, the letter and form are ne- 
ver neglected ; although its spirit and ob- 
ject be frequently evaded. Instances have 



CONCUBINAGE, ILLEGITIMATE CHILDREN. 116 

occurred, where, upon the death of his 
wife, the father of a family, when feeble 
and old, has admitted into his house, un- 
der the name of a wife, a child, incapable of 
comprehending the relation, in which she 
was nominally placed ; and needing the 
care, which it is one of the objects of that 
relation to extend to others. In her name, 
however, as mistress of the family, the va- 
rious domestic transactions are conduct- 
ed. 

In adverting to the subject of concubin- 
age, we have seen that the Jahrejah is lit- 
tle solicitous in the selection of a Rackelee, 
in so far as regards descent and connec- 
tions. This relation is not, like that of a 
wife, considered as at all involving the ho- 
nour of his family, or affecting the blood 
of his progeny. The children, indeed, who 
are the result of such intercourse, are not 
viewed as belonging to the father's cast ; 
and hence the principle of pride, which is 
so powerful as to prevail over nature, in re- 
gard of his legitimate daughters, not mat 



116 FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GUZERAT. 

ing the same demands upon his expendi- 
ture, in the case of spurious offspring, is 
not affected by their preservation. Al- 
though instances to the contrary have been 
known, therefore, the general fact is, that 
these female children have been preserved ; 
and afterwards married to Mussulmans, or 
Hindus of an inferior cast. It is not, how- 
ever, to affection, or any worthy principle 
in the father, that their preservation is to 
be ascribed ; but to a total apathy and dis- 
regard, which render him indifferent to 
their persons, and callous to their fate. # 

Yet notwithstanding the point of view, 
in which women of such origin are held by 
the Jahrejahs, some of them, of illustrious 
paternal descent, have obtained exalted al- 
liances ; and of one in particular, of distin- 
guished beauty, we are informed, that she 
was affianced to a Mahomedan, who was 
king of Scind. f 

* Report, par. 156. 

-f One of this origin was married to Damojee Gui- 
cawar, son of the family, which at present holds the 



DISPOSITION OF GOVERNMENT, &C. 117 

Such, in so far as more immediately re- 
gards the subject of this work, were the 
circumstances, the character, and the pre- 
judices of the Jahrejahs, in 1801, when 
Colonel Walker became Resident at Baro- 
da in Guzerat. 

In proceeding to contemplate Colonel 
Walker's labours in the abolition of female 
infanticide, it will be proper to quote an 
extract of a letter from the Government of 
Bombay to the Supreme Government, in In- 
dia, in reference to this subject ; and it would 
be gratifying to bestow the same praise upon 
the answer, which the application merits. 

" Another object," say the Bombay Go- 
vernment, # " which the expedition might 
have in view, would be an attempt to re- 
form the manners of several of these chief- 
tains, who, in common with the Jahrejah 
tribe, in the contiguous country of Kutch, 
put their female children generally to death 

chief authority in Guzerat. The lady was lately alive, 
and resided with her own relations in Kutch. 
* Mav 15. 1806. 



118 FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GUZERAT. 

as soon as they are born. Of this fact, 
we have received too many concurrent tes- 
timonies to admit of hesitation in the be- 
lief of its prevalence. The accompani- 
ment marked # # # will be found to contain 
such official proceedings, as we have hi- 
therto held, respecting a discovery, so de- 
plorable and humiliating to the human 
Face." ■ -ii^'iff '>t| 1 " • ' 

To this the Supreme Government reply, 
(31st July, 1806.) 

64 We cannot but contemplate with ap- 
probation, the considerations of humanity, 
which have induced you to combine with 
the proposed expedition, the project of sup- 
pressing the barbarous custom of female 
infanticide. But the speculative success 
even of that benevolent object, cannot be 
considered to justify the prosecution of 
measures, which may expose to hazard the 
essential interests of the state ; although, 
as a collateral object, the pursuit of it 
would be worthy of the benevolence and 
humanity of the British Government." 



GOVERNMENT FAVOURABLE TO HUMANITY. 119 

We shall now follow the Resident through 
the difficulties and opposition, which he 
had to encounter, till he was rewarded by 
the triumph of humanity. This will be 
the most interesting and important part of 
the work ; and as the reader attends Colonel 
Walker, step by step, he may anticipate 
both pleasure and instruction. At the same 
time, whatever may be thought of indivi- 
dual acts of some of the departments, it is 
but doing justice to the Company's govern- 
ment to say, that its spirit has been, as 
much, perhaps, as could be fairly expected, 
friendly to humanity, science, and civiliza- 
tion. % 



/ 



I 



CHAPTER EIGHTH. 

Difficulties experienced by Colonel Walker from 
the Jahrejahs themselves 9 in the Abolition of Fe- 
male Infanticide. 

"We now enter upon the more interesting 
part of this work; and the details to be 
presented, cannot fail, it is presumed, to 
suggest important hints to the practical 
friend of mankind. We have hitherto seen 
what was to do ; we are now to mark how 
it was done. The moral dawn, indeed, 
mingles so faintly, at first, with the prevail- 
ing darkness, that its existence is scarce- 
ly perceived; but it progressively beams 
brighter, till every shadow is dispelled. 

The first aspect of the difficulties pre- 
sented to Colonel Walker was such as 



DIFFICULTIES IN THE ABOLITION. 121 



might be allowed to stagger the stoutest 
heart, that had espoused the cause of hu- 
manity, without the impeachment of its 
courage ; and the facts to be presented will 
not leave it a matter of doubt, whether it 
were to unwonted perseverance and zeal, 
that we owe his final triumph. 

From the feeling of benevolence, of which 
he was conscious in himself, and which had 
so powerfully prompted his efforts, the 
Colonel seems to have been led to suppose 
its existence in the Jahrejahs, in a degree, 
which experience did not justify. Happy 
were it for the world, that the mistakes of 
men, in estimating the characters of one 
another, originated in causes, so honour- 
able to themselves. But although the pre- 
dominance of benevolence, in connection 
with the unconquerable desire of accom- 
plishing this favourite object, had led him 
to form more sanguine hopes of success, 
than the character of the people warranted ; 
he was resolved not to abandon his enter- 



122 FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GUZERAT. 

prise, so long as the possibility of its com- 
pletion remained. 

Not only was every direct endeavour 
prosecuted with ardour, till it either suc- 
ceeded, or was proved to be inefficacious ; 
but every thing of a collateral nature, how- 
ever remote might appear to be its influ- 
ence ; in short, every species of transaction 
with the Jahrejahs, and the native govern- 
ment, was made to bear, in one way or ano- 
ther, upon the great and paramount object. 
Of this fact, the report to Government fur- 
nishes proofs, which are as unostentatious 
as they are convincing ; as will appear by 
the passages, to which in the progress of 
this narrative, we shall have occasion to ad- 
vert. ■ "'I y^v^iM^mM 

The following we shall give in the Re- 
sident's own simple and comprehensive lan- 
guage : — " I entered on this undertaking," 
says he, " with sanguine expectations of 
success, but which were, for a long time, 
disappointed ; and I must own, that the 
natives had formed much more just opi- 



DIFFICULTIES IN THE ABOLITION. 123 



nions on the subject, when they foretold 
the difficulties that would attend the at- 
tempt, which few of them thought could 
be overcome, but by the Company's mak- 
ing a conquest of the country.* 

" I conceived that reason and feeling 
would effect the relinquishment of a bar- 
barous custom, unconnected with the prin- 
ciples of society ; and which all the pas- 
sions of the human mind, and all the forms 
and maxims of religion, were combined to 
destroy. As it was evident, also, that the 
most disinterested humanity had led the 
Honourable Company to interfere for the 
abolition of female infanticide ; I conceiv- 
ed, that this reflection, and the respect, 
due to their mediation, would have dispo- 
sed the Jahrejahs to comply with a request, 
which it was scarcely to be supposed would 

* The connection between the Company's govern- 
ment and Guzerat, originates in our alliance with the 
Pashwa and Guicawar, who possess the sovereignty- 
over that country. Between the Company's govern- 
ment and Kutch, there merely subsists a good under- 
standing without any positive alliance. 



124 FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GUZERAT. 

be at variance with their own sentiments. 
But sentiments of nature and humanity 
have no influence on the Jahrejahs ; and I 
was soon, however reluctantly, obliged to 
relinquish the favourable expectations I had 
formed of success. 

" The difficulties were many and formi- 
dable. I had been several years in habits 
of friendly correspondence with Jehajee, 
the chief of Moorbee, and he had continu- 
ally expressed a strong desire to cultivate 
the favour of the English government. 
The artifices of this chief and his Vakeel, 
who resided in camp, deceived and amused 
me, W some time, with promises, which 
proved fallacious. I availed myself of the 
agency and influence of Soonderjee Sewa- 
jee, after his arrival in camp, but with no 
better success. 

" At last, Jehajee transmitted a paper, in 
which he offered to accede to my wishes, 
by preserving his daughter, provided I 
would reduce Mallia, and restore the vil- 
lage of Huralla, of which he had been de- 



DIFFICULTIES IN THE ABOLITION. 125 

prived by the Guicawar government. The 
possession of this paper, I considered of im- 
portance, as it discovered the selfish and 
mercenary motives that attached the Jah- 
rejahs to infanticide." # 

When the passage, now quoted, was 
written, the veil of illusion, which the Re- 
sident's benevolence had spread over the 
character of the Jahrejahs, had been rent 
asunder; and this was no inconsiderable 
step in the progress of his enterprise. As 
a cause cannot operate beyond the measure 
of its native energy, nor a force act in a 
different direction from what it has receiv- 
ed : so the power applied to overcome a re- 
sistance, which inhered in the character of 
the Jahrejahs, would have been exerted in 
vain in any other direction. The forester, 
whose object it is to level the oak, which 
has gathered strength amid the tempests 
of ages, does not hope to accomplish his 
aim, by the destruction of some of the 



* Report, par. 220—227. 



126* 



FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GUZEHAT. 



branches. To effect the moral improve- 
ment of ourselves, or others, we must la- 
bour to ascertain the true nature and ex- 
tent of the evil to be counteracted, amid 
the varying and evanescent forms, which it 
frequently assumes. 

The Jahrejahs had been imagined to be 
a simple people, to whom nature would not 
lift her voice unheeded ; a people, whose 
moral delinquencies were to be ascribed to 
their prejudices, and their prejudices to 
their ignorance. But the fact turned out 
to be this, that the deep-rooted depravity 
of human nature, of which all are equally 
partakers, had in their case gathered pecu- 
liar strength in one direction, and finished 
off a character, in many respects revolting, 
by giving paramount prominence to what- 
ever is mean, mercenary, and selfish. 

With a wise moral physician, it will ne- 
ver be deemed a good general maxim, to 
counteract one evil by cherishing another. 
Sometimes, however, where the authority 
of divine revelation is unknown, nothing 

4; 



DIFFICULTIES IN THE ABOLITION. 127 

more can be accomplished ; and the only 
choice then left, is that between two evils. 
It was on this principle, accordingly, that 
the moralists of ancient Greece and Rome 
generally proceeded. 

The avarice of the Jahrejahs, which was 
so powerful as to stop the ear against the 
most tender pleadings of nature, may well 
be supposed incapable of increase. Yet 
were it successfully employed, (supposing 
it afterwards to continue in all its strength,) 
in the abolition of female infanticide, it was 
unquestionably rendered the instrument of 
good. But the exercise of parental affec- 
tion, involved in the relinquishment of 
this shocking practice, is evidently hostile 
to that disgusting excess, to which avarice 
and selfishness had been carried by the Jah- 
rejahs ; so that, whilst the claims of nature 
were allowed, the foundation was laid, to a 
certain extent, at least, for general huma- 
nization of character. If this be not all 
that we might desire, it is certainly all that, 
in the circumstances of the case, could be 



\28 FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GUZERAT. 

accomplished, and more than could be fair- 
ly expected. 

Having discovered, that the shocking 
practice of infanticide owed its continuance, 
much more to the base principle of avarice, 
than to any other cause ; and being pre- 
pared, as far as the nature of the case 
would admit, to render that principle sub- 
servient to his designs ; the Resident cer- 
tainly beheld the prospect brightening on 
his view. If the authority of religion, or 
the prejudices of cast, should be pleaded at 
all, it was evident, from the offer of Je- 
hajee, that they would present but a minor, 
and by no means an irresistible force. It 
was soon ascertained, indeed, that the prin- 
ciples of their religion were hostile to the 
practice ; and, as to cast, it is well known, 
in India, to present a far less formidable 
front than is generally imagined in Europe. 

In connection with turning the principle 
of avarice to advantage, the influence of 
example was wanted ; and of example the 
power will always be proportioned to the 



DIFFICULTIES IN THE ABOLITION. 129 

respectability of character, whence it pro- 
ceeds. With savages and children, its 
force supersedes, and triumphs over argu- 
mentation ; and, according as men rise from 
this state, till they reach that, in which^ 
resting upon the light of their own minds, 
they decide for themselves ; its authority 
will become, more or less, a principle of ac- 
tion. When it is remembered, that there 
was an age, in which philosophy consisted 
in uttering dark and dogmatic sayings, 
which it would have been profanity for vul- 
gar minds to question, or discuss ; when it 
is recollected, that the disciples of Pytha- 
goras, &fter listening in silence to his les- 
sons for years, presumed not, at length, to 
soar higher into the regions of independent 
thought, than by alleging the authority of 
their master, in support of their argument ; 
we shall see no cause for wondering that 
the savages of Africa,* and the half civiliz- 

* See the Sixth Report of the African Institution, 
p. 115. 

I 



ISO FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GUZERAT. 

ed Jahrejahs of Kutch and Guzerat, bowed 
so submissively to the authority of exam- 
ple. 

The negative sort of promises to relin- 
quish female infanticide, which were, at 
first, with difficulty, procured, were always 
clogged with the stipulated condition, that 
the example should be first set by some no- 
minated chief. It became of prime import- 
ance, therefore, to gain over to the inte* 
rests of humanity, some person, whose re- 
spectability and authority were most exten- 
sively acknowledged. 

The Resident was aware, that, to procure 
the example, in the first instance, from a 
person, connected with his own camp, and 
dependent on himself and the Company's 
Government, might prove prejudicial, in- 
stead of subservient to his design. With 
these impressions, accordingly, he turned 
his thoughts to the Rao Saheb, Rajah of 
Kutch, who was head of the senior family 
of the Jahrejahs, and whose character and 



DIFFICULTIES IN THE ABOLITION. 181 

condition seemed, if he could be gained 
over, to promise the desired success. 

Still more effectually to secure his ob- 
ject, Colonel Walker addressed himself to 
Fatteh Mahomed, whose authority, he had 
then reason to believe, was paramount in 
the country. Besides the authority, also, of 
which he was supposed to be possessed, 
this person seemed, from apparent circum- 
stances, to be in every other respect, fitted 
for being the willing and efficient instru- 
ment of the benevolent design. Being a 
zealous Mahomedan, the crime of infanti- 
cide was incompatible with the principles 
of his religion, as well as repugnant to the 
dictates of nature ; and, had his power 
been as extensive, as it was then imagined, 
disappointment could not have been reason- 
ably anticipated. 

Regarding the matter, accordingly, in 
that light, which was favoured by every 
circumstance and fact, that had come to 
his knowledge ; the^ Colonel addressed, in 
writing, to the Jamadar, Fatteh Mahomed, 



132 FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GUZERAT. 

every argument and motive, from reason, 
religion, the feelings of nature, and even 
the principles of self-interest, which might 
be supposed to influence his conduct. He 
wrote, also, a short letter to Rao Saheb, 
referring him, at the same time, to the more 
copious one addressed to the Jamadar. # 

But how . common is disappointment* 
even in cases where there does not appear 
to be " a loop to hang a doubt upon !" — 
Colonel Walker afterwards found, that he 
had been mistaken, in regard both of the 
character and influence of the Jamadar. 
Raised from an humble occupation, he was 
extremely illiterate ; and, instead of pos- 
sessing paramount authority in Kutch, his 
compliance with the humour of the people 
was necessary to his retaining the situation 
which he held, and the semblance alone of 
power, with which it was adorned. 

In such circumstances, little reliance 
was to be placed upon his exertions, and 



* For these letters, see the Appendix, No. I. 



DIFFICULTIES IN THE ABOLITION. 133 

little good was to be hoped from his influ- 
ence. But the Jamadar's real character 
and condition were not known to the Resi- 
dent, when, in answer to his application, 
he received a letter containing a long, in- 
flated, and furious defence of infanticide, 
in which are particularly pleaded tbe anti- 
quity and inviolability of the practice. 
This coarse document, of which a complete 
copy will be found in the Appendix, con- 
cludes thus : — " God is the Giver, and God 
is the Taker away. If any one's affairs go 
to ruin, he must attribute his fortune to 
God. — No one has till this day wantonly 
quarrelled with this Durbar, * who has not 
in the end suffered loss. — This Durbar 
wishes no one ill ; nor has ever wantonly 
quarrelled with any one. — Every thing 
that may happen is from God. — I bow obe- 
dient. — Do not again address me on this 
subject." — 

It was not till a considerable time after- 

* Durbar — the door of admittance — the hall of au- 
dience—a Rajah's palace — the Government House, &c. 



134 FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GUZERAT. 

wards, when Fatteh Mahomed wrote in an- 
swer to another application of the Resident, 
of which we shall, in its place, notice thq 
occasion and the nature ; that the cause 
of the apparent indifference and real ineffi- 
ciency of the Jamadar was ascertained. 
In that communication, he says, " It is not 
proper for me to say any thing on the sub- 
ject to the Jahrejahs ; and it would not 
have effect, nor ever wiJL" 

This acknowledgment is sufficiently 
unequivocal ; and the full extent of its im-* 
port, was afterwards illustrated by a con- 
versation, which the Colonel had with an 
agent of Fatteh Mahomed. It appears 
that the precarious circumstances, in which 
he is placed, render it necessary for him to 
be cautious and conciliatory, in his inter- 
course with the Jahrejahs. Even the sem- 
blance of power, which he possesses, is con.- 
nected with many humiliating and degra- 
ding circumstances. Whenever he sits on 
the Gaudee, or throne, he must have a 
young Jahrejah in his arms. It wajs not 



DIFFICULTIES IN THE ABOLITION. 135 

till lately, when wounded by an assassin, 
that he received, as a mark of kindness 
from Rao Saheb, permission to use a pa- 
lanquin ; * and, when in camp, he is not 
allowed to sleep on a cot, which the Jah- 
rejahs claim as an unalienable privilege. 
As to the practice of infanticide, the Jama- 
dar neither commits nor justifies it; and the 
letters, addressed nominally from him to 
Colonel Walker, were written under the 
influence of the Jahrejahs by a Nagur 
Brahmin, f — Whatever, therefore, may be 
the Jamadar's culpability and demerit in 
other respects, he must be acquitted in a 
case, in which he was, from necessity, the 
passive instrument of others. 

Leaving, however, for the present, the 
farther consideration of Fatteh Mahomed's 
character and condition ; let us turn to the 

* The liberty of using a palanquin is the gift of a 
sovereign to a subject, and is generally accompanied 
with a pension to defray the expense. In this respect 
it is analogous to some of the honourable distinctions in 
Europe. 

f Report, note to par. 276. 



I 



136 FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GUZERAT. 

effect, which his communication was calcu- 
lated to produce on the Resident's mind. 
The influence of high example was abso- 
lutely necessary to the accomplishment of 
his generous design ; that example he had 
solicited from a quarter, whence it could 
not fail of efficiency ; and in circumstances, 
in which disappointment could scarcely be 
anticipated. If he did not succeed in this 
case, where could he again apply with 
greater, or even with equal probability of » 
gaining his object ? — Nothing could be 
more pointedly discouraging than the Ja- 
madar's language, in reference to the sub- 
ject. It was insinuated that the applica- 
tion itself must have been intended as the 
ground of a quarrel, and that its repetition 
would be considered as the signal for a 
rupture. " No one," it is said, " has till 
this day, wantonly quarrelled with this Dur- 
bar, who has not in the end suffered loss." 
And the letter concludes with these signi* 
ficant words : " Do not again address me 
on this subject." 



DIFFICULTIES IN THE ABOLITION. 137 

Had Colonel Walker terminated here 
all his exertions in the cause of abolition ; 
had he transmitted to Government, and 
». published to the world, all the papers con- 
nected with the subject ; and on them 
grounded the conviction, that every future 
attempt, like the past, must prove fruitless 
unless the existing powers were crushed 
by an overwhelming force ; Government, 
we imagine, and the public, would have 
acquiesced in the justice of the conclusion, 
and applauded the wisdom of his attempts, 
whilst they would have numbered the exe- 
cution of them among the things that had 
been proved to be impossible. 

But let not the man, who has the im- 
provement of his species at heart, be easi- 
ly discouraged ; nor let him rashly apply 
the epithet impossible, to that, which is only 
difficult. Let him learn from the details, 
now to be presented, that few things are 
impossible to perseverence, directed by wis- 
dom. 

While the attempts, of which the nature 



1 



138 FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GU2ERAT. 

and issue have been related, were making ' 
with Rao Saheb, and Fatteh Mahomed, the 
Resident was assiduous, in his endeavours, 
to attach to his interests, Jehajee, the 
chief of Moorbee. With the character of 
this Rajah the reader is not entirely un- 
acquainted. He was the first, whose good 
offices had been solicited towards the abo- 
lition of this outrage on humanity ; and, 
independently of other considerations, that 
alone rendered his concurrence important. 

This chief had himself destroyed two in- 
fant daughters. * Jehajee had continually 
expressed a desire of cultivating the favour 
of the English Government ; and we have 
no reason to doubt his sincerity, where his * 
interest was so deeply concerned* This 
the Resident naturally considered as a 
propitious circumstance. For a time, this 
Rajah, by means of Sunderjee Sewajee, f 

* Report, par. 247. 

-(* Sunderjee Sewajee was a merchant at Manduvie* 
in Kutch, and had a contract for supplying the Com- 
pany's cavalry with horses. Both by cast and educa- 



DIFFICULTIES IN THE ABOLITION. 139 

who resided in the Colon— u .p, amused 
him with fallacious promises, which he never 
intended to fulfil. By interested motives, 
however, Jehajee was at length induced to 
transmit a paper of considerable import- 
ance, to which we have already alluded ; 
and which throws great light upon the 
cause, to which infanticide owed its conti- 
nuance. * In all communications on the 
subject, however, he discovered a disgust- 
ing combination of apathy and selfishness, 
and a desire to sell, at the highest price he 
could obtain, every concession which he 
made to humanity. 

Colonel Walker, knowing the import- 
ance of Sunderjee's good offices with this 
interested chief, and desirous to revive 
the reality, along with the appearance of 

tion, he was hostile to infanticide ; and, being univer- 
sally respected, as well as known in Kattywar, his 
agency was deemed of importance to the Resident's 
object. 

* This document, as well as all the correspondence 
with the chiefs on the subject, will be found in the Ap- 
pendix, No. I. 



140 FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GUZERAT. 

natural affection, insisted through him, 
that " the relinquishment of the custom of 
infanticide should be unconditional. It 
must be clear," adds the Resident, writing 
to Sunderjee Sewajee, " it must be clear 
and from the heart. The advantages to 
the Rajah would be many, besides those 
arising from humanity, from religion, and 
from the natural affection of parents to 
children. It will ensure him the friend- 
ship and favour of the Company's govern- 
ment. The Thakur must not expect the 
friendship of the Company, if he continues 
this practice, and nothing will .be ceded, on 
this point, to induce him." # 

In the correspondence originating in 
this subject, f Sunderjee writes, that Jeha- 
jee had assembled his mother and breth- 
ren to deliberate cn the proposed relin- 
quishment of infanticide, and that, of this 
council the result was an agreement to 
abandon the practice, " according to the 

* Report, Appendix, No. 3. f September 1807. 



DIFFICULTIES IN THE ABOLITION. I4'Z 

conditions, to which Rao Saheb of Kutch, 
and Jam, may agree/' — It is immediately 
added : " Before them, nothing will be con- 
cluded." — In a few days the application 
was made to Rao Saheb, and in about a 
month after * was found to be hopeless. 

In this state of things, Sewajee promised 
to use his endeavours with Jehajee ; but 
did not flatter the Colonel with hopes of 
success. He stated it, indeed, as his de- 
cided opinion, that nothing but open force 
would avail. " If the relinquishment of 
infanticide," says he, " is a question as- 
suredly to be effected, by the Company, its 
accomplishment must be effected by force, 
which would be but advisable, and proper. 
But, in future, whatever is your pleasure, 
I am your servant." f 

The receipt of Fatteh Mahomed's com- 
munication, about the end of October fol- 

* The letter of Fatteh Mahomed is dated 21st Oct, 
1807. 

+ Dated 26th Sept. 1807. Report, Appendix, No. 
16. 



142 FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GUZERAT. 

lowing, rendered the prospect of success 
more distant than ever. Every effort was, 
for a time, followed by the discovery of 
new difficulties, and the multiplication of 
obstructions. 

In this critical and discouraging state of 
things, an expedient occurred to the Resi- 
dent, which could not fail to flatter him 
with the hope of success. 

The Chief of Moorbee's mother was a 
woman of distinguished reputation for ta- 
lents, benevolence, prudence, and propriety 
of conduct ; and her influence over her son 
was known to be great. It was consider- 
ed, also, that she must be aware of the 
importance of the Company's favour to Je- 
hajee, in the present embarrassed state of 
his affairs. In connection with her wis- 
dom, benevolence, and influence over the 
Rajah, was to be remembered the sympa- 
thetic tenderness of her sex. 

What mind is there, so little sanguine, 
but would, in such a case, have delighted 
itself with remembering instances, in which 



• 



DIFFICULTIES IN THE ABOLITION. 143 

the ardent and unextinguishable zeal of fe- 
male character has been displayed, espe- 
cially where the softer affections have been 
powerfully touched ? — instances in which, 
fertile of expedients, it has extricated itself 
from a labyrinth of seeming difficulties, 
and braved danger and death m all their 
varying and hideous aspects, till the acqui- 
sition of its object, has crowned its labours 
with triumph. Nor are we to limit the 
prospect, opened up by this expedient, to 
the mere personal exertions of an indivi- 
dual. It was natural to imagine the im- 
pulse given from the commanding situa- 
tion, occupied by this distinguished lady, 
universally spreading, till every individual 
female bosom had been inspired with the 
same enthusiasm, in the sacred cause of 
natural feeling and parental tenderness. 

It would not fail to be suggested to them 
— and if it did, yet they could not but re- 
member — that, had this shocking practice 
been observed by the tribes to which they 
owed their existence, they could not have 



144> FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GU2ERAT. 

been now wives and mothers. How too, 
must these thoughts have gathered the 
strength of unalterable resolutions, at the 
recollection of the pangs, which they them- 
selves endured, when their helpless and 
unpitied babes were barbarously butchered 
at their birth ? Being themselves embark- 
ed in the cause, we imagine the soft and 
endearing persuasion, by which they influ- 
ence their husbands. They cannot fail to 
urge the motives derived from parental 
feeling and domestic happiness ; and as an 
argument, which also might be suggested, 
though of much inferior weight, — the 
countenance and favour, which they might 
anticipate from the Company's govern- 
ment. 

How far these anticipations would have 
been well founded, will immediately appear. 
Colonel Walker addressed to the Jahrejah's 
mother, those motives and arguments, 
which were most likely to touch her feel- 
ings, and influence her conduct. The fame 
of her own talents and virtues, he did not 



DIFFICULTIES IN THE ABOLITION. 145 

fail to notice. He stated the wish of the 
Company to abolish a practice, so abhor- 
rent from human nature ; and referred to 
the opposite conduct, observed by her own 
parents, and in consequence of which, she 
then lived and was a mother. " Should 
you not do as I request," he adds, " what 
answer can you return to your God ? — 
Should you fully consider this business, 
you will perfectly observe the impropriety 
of it. Should other casts do as the Jahre- 
jahs, how Could the Jahrejah race exist ? — . 
What more can I write ?" — # 

The immediate effect of this appeal to 
wives and mothers, was calculated to con- 
sole the Resident for the many disappoint- 
ments, which he had hitherto experienced 
in the cause. " My overtures to this la- 
dy," says he, " were at first received with 
the feelings natural to her sex ; and she 
seemed disposed, with the rest of the wo- 
men, (of Jehajee's family,) who held several 

* Report. Appendix, No. 10. 

K 



146 FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GUZERAT. 

consultations together on the subject, to 
unite their influence for the abolition of in- 
fanticide." # 

Painful as is the recital, however, truth 
requires us to add, that these cheering 
prospects were momentary and evanescent. 
The ebullitions of genuine nature soon 
subsided. The women, it appears, had pro- 
posed the abolition ; the Jahrejahs imme- 
diately took the alarm ; and, to be brief, 
the women themselves became advocates 
for what was deemed " the ancient privi- 
lege of the cast !" 

It is painful to dwell on the contempla- 
tions, which these facts suggest to the mind. 
It is very painful to contemplate woman, 
to whom we look for every thing gentle 
and endearing, from whom we expect, and 
generally experience, the solace of our cares, 
incentives to benevolent exertion, and com- 
fort in distress ; — it is very painful to be- 
hold her espouse and advocate a ferocity,, 

* Report, par. 240. 



DIFFICULTIES IN THE ABOLITION* 147 

unknown to the beasts, that prowl in the 
desert. Yet whilst we must condemn, let 
the sentence be dictated by justice and dis- 
cernment. In pronouncing upon an act, 
let us attend to the principle and the mo- 
tive, whence it proceeded. Was the fero- 
city, which appeared in these women, on 
this occasion, habitual, and what they felt 
pleasure in cherishing ? 

It confessedly was not ; for their first and 
spontaneous feeling was expressive of an 
eager concurrence in the benevolent object 
of the Resident. Nay, more ; they did not 
allow the sentiment to remain inactive, in 
their own bosoms ; but proceeded to give 
it all the efficiency, which their persuasion 
and entreaty could command. — But then, 
they soon relapsed into sentiments of the 
most inhuman and ruthless apathy. — Take 
it even according to this statement, (al- 
though a distinction should be made be- 
tween sentiment and prudential compli- 
ance,) let it be considered in what this sud- ~ 
den and unamiable change originated. It 



148 FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GUZERAT. 

was in deference to their husbands ; it was 
in a desire to allay the alarm, which, they 
perceived, they had excited ; it was in dif- 
fidence of themselves, and, (imagining 
their efforts would be fruitless,) an aversion 
from disputing with those, whom they con- 
sidered it their duty and their honour to 
obey. 

Such, at least, were their views of the 
matter ; for, according to the notions of the 
East, and, without limiting the remark to 
Guzerat, or even to Hindustan, it is held, 
that the obedience of a wife to her husband 
should be unlimited and implicit. The 
reader will be aware of the difference be- 
tween the statement, and the justification, 
of a sentiment. It is here mentioned as a 
mere matter of fact, to account for a disap- 
pointment, which Colonel Walker must 
have felt severely at the time. 

The abolition of female infanticide had 
now, for a time, continued to be " the 
daily subject of letters, messages, and con- 



DIFFICULTIES IN THE ABOLITION. 149 



ferences." # Yet not only had no certain 
advantage been gained from the exertions 
that had been made, but even circum- 
stances, which had lately seemed propitious 
and promising, now wore a discouraging 
aspect. What might, in loose language, 
be called the friendship of Jehajee, certain- 
ly promised something, and the importance 
to him of the Resident's favour, still more. 
The Vakeel* Sewajee, might be indifferent 
to the tender sympathies of nature ; yet, 
in the same proportion, we should suppose 
him alive to his own interests ; and these 
were evidently connected with his subser- 
viency in promoting the cause of abolition. 
In addition to all these considerations, much 
was to be expected from the interposing 
influence of the women. From the Rajah, 
however, the utmost concession, that could 
be obtained, at the very time that he was 
soliciting Colonel Walker's good offices, in 
regard of pecuniary arrangements, was a 

* Report, par, 235* 



159 FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GUZERAT. 

promise to abandon infanticide, on the al- 
most hopeless condition, that the example 
were first given by Jam Saheb.* 

Sewajee, indeed, promised his services, 
but despaired of their success. And the 
mother of the Rajah, to whom it was so 
natural to look with hope, even whilst she 
petitioned the Resident to use his good of- 
fices, in retrieving the embarrassed affairs 
of her son, requested that he might be ex- 
cused, as to the abandonment of infanti- 
cide, for which she pleaded the antiquity of 
the practice, and, for farther particulars, 
referred to the letter of Jehajee himself, f 

Excited by Colonel Walker, however, 

* Jam is an appellation peculiar to the chiefs of Na- 
wanuggur, or of Hallaun, which is the name of the ter- 
ritory under their jurisdiction. It is a title which has 
descended from their ancestors. The word is suscep* 
tible of two interpretations: 1st, Jam is a Sanscrit 
word, signifying 44 fixed," and, in this sense, is suppo- 
sed to allude to the permanent situation of the Hindu 
sovereigns, after the dispersion of the Koehutree. 2d, 
Others derive Jam from Jamshed, a famous hero, and 
King of Persia. 

*|* Report, Appendix, No. 11 — 13. 



t 



DIFFICULTIES IN THE ABOLITION. 151 

Sewajee was induced to continue his en- 
deavours with the Rajah, although he was 
perpetually expressing his despair of suc- 
cess.* In one of his letters, he suggests 
the propriety of using coercive measures, 
as those which alone would prove success- 
ful, and recourse to which was justified by 
the nature of the case. The opinion of 
Sewajee was so far from being peculiar to 
himself, that it seemed to have been ge- 
nerally held by the natives. But surely it 
is unnecessary to add, that, to butcher a 
number of fellow-creatures, in order to in- 
spire and imbue men with the feelings of 
human nature, was too preposterous in the 
eyes of the Resident, to admit of a mo- 
ment's consideration. 



* Report, Appendix, No. 14— 16 



CHAPTER NINTH. 

Progress of the Narrative — Colonel Walker's suc- 
cess — Universal engagement of the Jahrejahs of 
Chizerat to relinquish Infanticide. 

The narrative has now been brought down 
to near the end of September 1807? and 
the horizon seems still to lower, instead of 
brightening on the eye of hope. No chief, 
however needy and dependent, had hither- 
to promised compliance with the solicita- 
tions of the Resident. Even an interested 
Vakeel, whose selfishness induced the pro- 
mise of subserviency, had not dared to flat- 
ter with a single hope of success, except 
by the adoption of means, which were ut- 
terly incompatible with benevolence, as 
well -as with the principles of justice and 
sound policy. 



COLONEL WALKER'S SUCCESS, &C. 153 



Whatever might be the aspect of things, 
however, in the eyes of unreflecting men ; 
a powerful, though latent, cause, had now 
begun to operate. This was no other than 
that attention to the subject of female in- 
fanticide, to which the Resident's persever- 
ing efforts had given rise. Hitherto the 
Jahrejahs had acted as their fathers had 
done ; and, among a people unaccustomed 
to argumentation and discussion, nothing 
can be a more secure defence of any error, 
folly, or vice, than the ability to plead its 
antiquity. Besides its antiquity, also, they 
had been accustomed to associate the prac- 
tice of infanticide with those false ideas of 
pre-eminence, by which they conceived 
themselves exalted above other tribes. And 
it is possible to imagine the additional 
weight thrown into the scale, by supposed 
self-interest, without having recourse to the 
peculiar notions of the Jahrejahs. 

When we consider the power of habit, 
and the influence of traditionary customs 
and maxims, among the most enlightened 



154* FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GUZERAT. 

and enquiring people, we should not great- 
ly wonder at the tenacity, with which they 
were maintained by a rude and half-civiliz- 
ed, tribe ; to whom enquiry is unknown, 
and who are prone to regard whatever is 
ancient, as hallowed by time, and the wis- 
dom of their forefathers. 

Now, however, doubts had been thrown 
out on the subject. It had been suggest- 
ed, that, what they had hitherto considered 
a just cause of pride and pre-eminence, 
should be regarded as a ground of real de- 
gradation^ and merited opprobrium ; and 
that, instead of being exalted above others, 
by the systematic murder of their own fe- 
male offspring, they had rendered them- 
selves unworthy of the name and the privi- 
leges of men. 

Among the marked characteristics of 
men in their condition of society, suspicion 
ever holds a distinguished place. However 
little accustomed they may be to enquire 
on other subjects, whenever what they con- 
sider to be an innovation is proposed, they 



COLONEL WALKER'S SUCCESS, &C. 155 

immediately suspect the innovators to be 
actuated by that selfishness, of which they 
feel the operation to be powerful in them- 
selves. The slightest probabilities are mag- 
nified into competent and conclusive evi- 
dence, for what they are previously dispo- 
sed to believe. Here, then, their attention 
would be sufficiently scrutinizing and vigi- 
lant. 

" What advantage," they would say, 
" can the East India Company derive from 
the abolition of infanticide ? What benefit 
will it confer on the Governor-general? 
And especially, what good can result from 
it to Colonel Walker, the Resident ? Of 
the Company's motives, and those of the 
Governor-general, we may not be so com- 
petent to judge ; but how the abolition of 
this practice is to benefit the Resident, is 
utterly inconceivable ! How has he acted 
to us, in other respects ? It was by him 
that our revenue system has been arranged 
in its present order. It was in consequence 
of this, that we are relieved from the most 



\ 



156 FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GUZERAT. 

oppressive exactions, and that our whole 
condition is so much ameliorated. Now, 
from all this, he certainly derives no addi- 
tional emolument : — nothing but labour and 
anxiety. 

" It is true, we have never previously 
known any character of this kind ; and can- 
not very readily admit the idea of a man, 
a powerful Thakur, more mighty, in many 
respects, than even our own Rajahs, giving 
himself so much trouble for nothing ; yet 
if he has any secret, and selfish motive, he 
must be very dextrous in concealing it. 
For a man to take so much trouble, for the 
mere pleasure of doing us good, we must 
admit to be sufficiently strange, and suf- 
ficiently simple. Yet, strange and simple 
as it does seem, it appears, in this instance, 
to be the case. But still, if it were the 
fact, that he were to gain something, (al- 
though we cannot conceive how,) by indu- 
cing us to save our daughters ; it is possible 
that it may, at the same time, prove ad- 
vantageous to ourselves. Of this, at least, 



COLONEL WALKER'S SUCCESS, &C. 157 



we are certain, that every project, which 
he has hitherto carried into effect, has been 
clearly, and greatly, for our benefit. He 
professes to be our friend : and as yet, we 
must allow, that we have always found him 
such." # 

* Since writing the above, I have met with a very 
sensible paper, the writer of which had been a consider- 
able time resident in India, and the coincidence of 
whose remarks, founded in observation, with the reason- 
ing, which the subject suggested to my mind, afforded 
me considerable gratification. The object of the writer 
is to defend the Anglo-Indian ladies against the attack 
made on them by Maria Graham ; and, in so far as any 
thing of mine may acquire publicity, I should be happy 
that it promoted the interests of truth, justice, and 
Christian charity, by which the author alluded to, seems 
to be animated. It must be highly gratifying to every 
well-disposed and pious mind, to learn, on very satis- 
factory evidence, that many ladies in India adorn the 
profession of the gospel, with those good works, which 
are the beet evidence of true faith. 

" In my humble opinion, 1 ' says the writer, " found- 
ed upon opportunities of personal observation, amiable 
female characters among the British peculiarly impress 
the minds of the natives of India with high respect to- 
wards our nation ; for, to all that is praise-worthy and 
superior in the other sex, they are prepared to impute 
more or less sinister motives. They do, indeed, per- 
ceive that European gentlemen possess more persever- 



158 FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GDZERAT. 

Without imagining the Jahrejahs to rea^ 
son very closely or philosophically on the 
subject, we may yet suppose such ideas as 
these, to have passed through their minds ; 
ideas, which were unavoidably suggested 
by the amelioration of their circumstances, 
and the daily incidents and intercourse of 
life. It is impossible to develope the vari- 
ous considerations, which influenced their 
minds, and the accumulating energy, which 

ing purpose and activity of mind than themselves ; but 
they will suspect that some latent self-interest must 
sway their most laudable conduct. Not, alas 5 being 
capacitated to trace the influence of pure religion, they 
naturally suppose, that love of money or fear of punish- 
ment, are, in the minds of our countrymen, the two 
master impulses, which stimulate to good, or restrain 
from evil. But to purity and excellence in our females, 
tbey can impute no such motives. Ladies are engaged 
in no money transactions ; and, however they may 
act, c no suspension from the service,' no reprimand of 

Government, or — — hangs in terrorem over them. 

Even are they uninfluenced by all degrading fear of 
their own husbands ! How, then, do the wondering 
natives see them use their Christian liberty, and not 
> abuse it ? It is in a manner, which impresses them with 
some perception of the truth."" Christian Observer. 
October 1814, p. 639. 

3 



COLONEL WALKER'S SUCCESS, 159 

these considerations acquired, from the 
time the first proposition on the subject was 
made, and the most stout and stubborn re- 
sistance to it offered, till the intensity of 
that opposition was gradually relaxed, and 
finally changed into compliance. This, 
however, we know, that the discussion of 
the subject among themselves was favour- 
able to the cause of humanity, which the 
Resident had espoused. " By discussing 
the subject," says the Colonel, " frequent- 
ly in the public Kutchery, # and expos- 
ing the enormity of the practice, as con- 
trary to the precepts of religion and the 
dictates of nature, every cast came to ex- 
press an abhorrence of infanticide, and the 
inveterate prejudices of the Jahrejahs be- 
gan to be shaken. The maxims and pas- 
sions, which favoured infanticide, were pro- 
bably, for the first time, canvassed and cen- 
sured with freedom. The progress of this 
system was slow ; but it was insensibly 

* Court of Justice. 



160 FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GU2ERAT. 

spreading its influence, and became a sub- 
ject of universal conversation. The novelty 
of the attempt, and the extraordinary na- 
ture of the subject, also attracted general 
attention.* 

For nearly a month f we have no written 
communication from Jehajee, or his Va- 
keel, on the subject of infanticide. In the 
mean time, however, the cause of humanity 
was gaining strength ; and the Rajah at 
length transmitted a note to Colonel Wal- 
ker, expressive of less resistance, than for- 
merly ; and though still requiring, that the 
first example should be given by others, 
yet willing to relax in the particularity of 
the persons, whose example should be fol- 
lowed. 

The whole of the note referred to, is as 
follows : " From motives of friendship, the 
Honourable Company are urging me to pre- 
serve my daughters. To this I agree, if 

* Report, par. 244—246. 

•j* From 26th September till 21st October. 



COLONEL WALKER'S SUCCESS, &C. 161 

the Nowanaggur and Gondal Wallas agree. 
If they do not preserve them, I will not do 
it." * 

" This," says Colonel Walker, " was the 
first considerable step towards the attain- 
ment of this great object ; and the writing 
appeared to reduce the question to a kind 
of point of honour, or respect for antiqui- 
ty, in setting the example of sanction- 
ing an innovation on a general habit." f 

In the letter and form, this offer differs 
from those, which the Resident had previ- 
ously received from the Rajah, only in the 
nomination of the chiefs, whose example 
was required. But, in the present instance, 
this difference was virtually equivalent to 
that between a negative, and an affirmative 
answer. 

This short, but important note, was the 
result of previous and mutual agreement. 
In the communications, which took place, 
on this subject, we are told, that Jehajee 

* Report. Appendix, No. 17. 
■f- Report, par. 249. 



162 FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GUZERAT. 



proposed the insertion of the names of the 
Rao of Kutch, and Jam of Nowanaggur ; 
but, aware that this was promising almost 
nothing, the Resident positively refused 
the paper, unless it contained the name of 
Dewajee of Gondal. * Jehajee's concur- 
rence with the Resident's request was con- 
sidered as an indication of a more favour- 
able disposition, and that his reluctance to 
abandon infanticide had, at all events, ceas- 
ed to be extreme. 

In this state of things, the detachment, 
commanded by Colonel Walker, in the 
course of their operations, had occasion to 
traverse the country, which regarded Jam 
as its chief, and, in a short time, arrived at 
Kundorna. The circumstances were fa- 
vourable to the Colonel's project ; and the 
reader may imagine with what eagerness 
and delight, every such opportunity would 
be improved for the promotion of the great 
cause. 



Report, par. 251. 



COLONEL WALKER'S SUCCESS, &C. 16S 

Besides the obvious advantage, afforded 
by this station, for communicating with 
Jam ; there was another of an incidental 
nature, not less propitious to the great de- 
sign. Wassonjee Eswurjee, Vakeel of the 
Gondal chief, (who, it will be recollected, 
was the other chief, whose example was re- 
quired by Jehajee,) then resided in camp. 
Thus the Resident had many opportunities 
of conversing with him, on the subject, in 
which he felt such deep interest ; and of 
urging the employment of his good offices 
with his chief. The Vakeel was a respec- 
table Brahmin, of good understanding and 
moral sensibility. The application was not 
in vain: He was easily induced, we are 
told, to unite his influence with that of the 
Resident, in order to prevail on his master 
to enter into a formal obligation, to abolish 
•infanticide. 

While every thing was thus brightening 
on the view, the transaction of affairs, con- 
nected with the revenue, required the pre- 
sence of W assonjee at Gondal. Previous- 



I 



164* FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GUZERAT. 

ly to his departure, however, he privately 
gave the Resident assurances, in which the 
latter thought, he might safely confide, that 
he should return with authority from his 
master, to enter into any engagement, that 
should be deemed necessary, for the aboli- 
tion of infanticide, in that district of coun- 
try, in which his power was acknowledged. 

As formerly, one difficulty and discou- 
ragement seemed merely to prepare the 
way for others ; and to crowd in such close 
succession, as might well fill the most san- 
guine mind with despondency ; so now, the 
time appeared to be equally prolific of pro- 
pitious events. Among his coadjutors, in 
this important moral enterprise, the Resi- 
dent mentions, with peculiar regard and 
gratitude, Wittol Row Dewajee, command- 
er of the Guicawar army. " It is with 
great pleasure," says he, " that I mention 
his cordial and zealous assistance, in this 
and every endeavour for suppressing infan- 
ticide." — " This officer," he adds, " with 
the peculiar ardour of his character, em- 

i « .. ■ ! ^Y' '- 1 v* ' ' * - j 



COLONEL WALKER'S SUCCESS, &C. 165 

braced every occasion of exposing the enor- 
mity of the crime ; and of promoting, by 
his arguments and influence, a detestation 
of the practice." # 

While relating this gratifying incident, 
we left Wassonjee on his mission to the 
chief of Gondal ; and the reader is, no 
doubt, now looking with impatience for his 
return. In due time, he was again in the 
camp. He began by expressing the reluc- 
tance of his master at being the first to 
give an example, which might expose him 
to the reproach of his cast. — But why pro- 
tract the suspense of the benevolent mind? 
and it is to the benevolent alone that sus- 
pense will, in this case, be painful. 

The Vakeel's relation of what had pas- 
sed on the subject, ended in his executing, 
on the part of his master, a deed of the 
most solemn, effectual, and binding nature, 
by which is, renounced, for ever, the 

PRACTICE OF INFANTICIDE. 

* Report, par. 260. 



166 



FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GUZERAT. 



The mind that has felt interested by the 
preceding narrative will now be relieved 
from the suspense ; and from the alternations 
of hope and fear, which a general know- 
ledge of the issue could not entirely re- 
move, and, uniting curiosity with calmness 
of reflection, will be in a state favourable 
to the perusal of the document now noti- 
ced, of which a copy will be found in the 
Appendix. # 

Thus far, then, after many misgivings of 
heart, and evil forebodings, we have arriv- 
ed within view of our destined object. 
Filled with admiration and delight, we are 
disposed to pour forth our thanks and con- 
gratulations, to the ardent and persevering 
friend of humanity, from the success of 
whose labours, our pleasure is derived, 

The indulgence, however, of a disposi- 
tion, so grateful to our feelings, we must 
be contented, for a little, to suspend. Pleas- 
ing and important as are the advantages 
already gained ; we must not hope to con- 
template their completion, till we have at- 

* See Appendix, No. 2. 



COLONEL WALKER'S SUCCESS, &C. 167 

tended Colonel Walker through the unex- 
pected mortifications, disappointments and 
opposition, which yet await him. 

Of the two chiefs, whose example was 
required by Jehajee, as the condition of his 
relinquishment of infanticide ; there still 
remained one, whose concurrence had not 
been obtained, That chief was Jam Jus- 
sajee. His conduct affords a striking in- 
stance of the trouble and vexation, with 
which the weak and unworthy may some- 
times encumber the accomplishment of 
great designs. 

His character was marked by whatever 
is disgusting and degrading. Arrogance 
and meanness, cruelty and cowardice, ab- 
ject submission and treacherous intention, 
insolence and timidity, are kindred quali- 
ties, whose union was eminently displayed 
in the conduct of this chief. 

The deed of relinquishment, executed by 
the Vakeel, Wassonjee, had not yet receiv- 
ed the signature of the Gondal chief. That 
this, however, would be obtained, there ap- 



168 FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GUZERAT. 

peared to be no rational cause to doubt % 
and upon the faith of it all the Jahrejah 
chiefs, in that district, with the single ex- 
ception of Jam, declared their ready and 
cordial concurrence. But now that it ap- 
peared probable, that the cause of feeling 
and of nature would speedily triumph over 
all opposition ; not only had he recourse to 
every subterfuge and artifice, to evade the 
obligation himself ; but, by messengers and 
letters, he used every effort to dissuade 
Dewajee of Gondal from giving validity to 
the instrument of abolition. But, in the 
turpitude of character, which he expected 
to find, or create in Dewajee, he was hap- 
pily disappointed. The deed received his 
ratification, and, immediately after, that of 
the other chiefs. 

Shame is seldom felt poignantly, where 
the cause for it is great. It implies the 
existence of virtuous sentiment, whatever 
be the aberrations of actual conduct. So 
feeble was its influence on Jam, however, 

that he found himself perfectly competent 

5 



\ 



COLONEL WALKER'S SUCCESS, &C. 169 



to pursue his craft, and selfishness in all 
the forms, in which they still appeared prac- 
ticable. Perceiving his designs upon De- 
wajee to be frustrated, finding that this 
chief had ratified the engagement, and that 
the example would be immediately followed 
by the rest, he naturally, though reluctant- 
ly, anticipated the necessity of his own con- 
currence. 

Although, however, it now became im- 
possible to avoid altogether his concur- 
rence in the deed of relinquishment ; he 
imagined, that, by a little dexterity, invi- 
gorated by a due proportion of effrontery ; 
he might procure such a modification of 
his engagement, as would leave himself 
personally, little, if at all, affected by it. 
Fully furnished, accordingly, with all the 
mean and base qualities, requisite on the 
occasion, he " proposed, that neither him- 
self, nor his own offspring, should be inclu- 
ded in the engagement, but that he should 
bind himself for his relations, and their off- 
spring, only to renounce infanticide." 



170 FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GUZERAT, 

Colonel Walker was aware, however, 
from the beginning, that any species of mo- 
dification might prove fatal to his object. 
At a time when his hopes were most faint, 
at a time when we should not have accu- 
sed him of want of perseverence, though he 
had for ever abandoned his generous pro- 
ject, and, at a time, therefore, when the 
temptation to concession was great ; Jeha- 
jee promised the relinquishment of infanti- 
cide, on condition of receiving certain va- 
luable considerations, which he specified. 
But even then the Resident resisted the 
proposal ; and while he gave assurances of 
general friendship, both on his own part, 
and that of the Company's Government ; 
he pointedly refused any thing direct and 
stipulated. It was not to be expected, 
therefore, that what had been formerly so 
strenuously resisted would now be conced- 
ed ; and Jam was accordingly informed, 
that his proposal was inadmissible, as it 
was incompatible with the first principle in 

4 



COLONEL WALKER'S SUCCESS, &C. 171 

the engagement, which was that of unqua- 
lified and unconditional relinquishment. 

Now, driven from every subterfuge, he 
saw nothing remaining for him, but impli- 
cit concurrence. Finally, therefore, like 
the rest of the Jahrejahs, he affixed his sig- 
nature to the deed of abolition. 

The reader may naturally suppose, that, 
now, at least, we have done with Jam Jus- 
sajee ; and we shall forgive him, should he 
charitably imagine, that the dark shades 
upon his character have been laid on with 
too broad a pencil. We have, however, 
one trait still to add, and a trait, which, it 
is to be feared, will deepen, instead of light- 
ening, the previous shades. It shall be gi- 
ven in the words of Colonel Walker : " It 
is sufficient, 5 ' says he, " to expose the un- 
worthy motives of this chief, to mention, 
that, after he had agreed to the engage- 
ment for renouncing infanticide, he had 
the effrontery and meanness, to solicit an 
abatement of his revenue, in order to re- 
imburse the expence, which, as he alleged. 



I 



172 FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GUZERAT, 

he should, in future, be liable to, in con- 
sequence of bringing up his daughters." # 

Amid the general unanimity to abolish 
infanticide, which now prevailed, there still 
remained another person of influence, from 
whom resistance was experienced. This 
was no other than Dossajee, the chief of 
Mallia, of whom it has been already stated, 
in its proper place, that he had spared a 
daughter. The act of mercy, it is true, 
did not result from the spontaneous exer- 
cise of parental feeling ; but still it origin- 
ated in an amiable principle : it was a con- 
cession to the wishes of his wife. Besides 
this auspicious fact, there were other cir- 
cumstances, which taught the Resident to 
place some measure of reliance on this 
chief. He had given direct, and repeated 
assurances, by his Vakeel, of his readiness, 
to renounce or himself, and to co-operate, 
in abolishing among others, the abominable 
practice of female infanticide. It deserves, 
also, to be stated, that, when the chief of 

* Report, par. 268. 



COLONEL WALKER'S SUCCESS, &C. 173 

Moorbee communicated the written en- 
gagement to abandon the practice, if the 
example were given by the Nowanaggur 
and Gondal Wallas ; Dossajee granted a 
similar writing. Contrary to the expec- 
tations, however, which these facts war- 
ranted ; when it came that he was requi- 
red to sign the final and formal deed of re- 
nunciation, he used every artifice, and eva- 
sion he could contrive, to avoid, or defer 
compliance. 

The probability is, that, at first, he con- 
sidered the project of abolition to be per- 
fectly visionary and impracticable, and the 
difficulties in the way of its accomplish- 
ment, altogether insurmountable. He 
would consider, that it was wise to conci- 
liate the friendship of Colonel Walker, 
when he could do it by promises, which 
cost him nothing, as he should never be 
required to fulfil them ; and that, on the 
same principle, it would be folly to hesi- 
tate, in granting a written engagement, si- 
milar to that of Jehajee, since neither the 



174 FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GUZERAT. 

one nor the other should ever be required 
to do any thing more.— It would appear 
that Jehajee was aware of the consequen- 
ces of nominating the Gondal chief, as an 
example ; otherwise he never would have 
hesitated, when his name was proposed. 
Dossajee, on the other hand, less acquaint- 
ed with his principles and character, did not 
hesitate in promising to follow the exam- 
ple, because he never imagined it would be 
given. 

The case, now, however, was become a 
very plain one. Dossajee stood engaged, 
both by word and writing, to act in confor- 
mity to a certain specified example : that 
example had been already given, and had 
likewise obtained universal imitation ; far- 
ther delay on his part, therefore, which 
must finally prove fruitless, he now perceiv- 
ed to be idle ; and he accordingly subscri- 
bed a deed of the same nature with that, 
which had obtained the signatures of the 
other chiefs. * 

* Dossajee, the Jahrejah chief of Mallia, was one of 



COLONEL WALKER'S SUCCESS, &C. 175 



We now behold the completion of Colo- 
nel Walker's successful labours in the 
abolition of infanticide, throughout the pe- 

the most unprincipled and profligate of his tribe. The 
depredations and robberies, which were committed un- 
der his authority, obliged the Company, at a subsequent 
period, in the year 1809, to send a force against him, 
under the command of Colonel Walker. His fort of 
Mallia was, accordingly, attacked ; and, after a practi- 
cable breach had been effected, was carried by assault ; 
but not until every expedient and argument had been 
previously exhausted, to induce the chieftain to submit, 
and refrain from depredations. 

The following is an extract of the orders issued by 
Colonel Walker, on that occasion ; and which will ex- 
plain the extent of the mischief and pillage, which, for 
many years, these robbers had been in the habit of 
committing : 

" Camp at Mallia, 8th July, 1809. 
" The necessity, to which the obstinacy of the peo- 
ple of Mallia had reduced the commanding officer of 
attempting the place by storm, has imposed upon him 
the obligation of paying that tribute of gratitude to the 
detachment, which is so eminently due to their zeal, 
energy, and exertion. By the conspicuous exercise of 
those qualities, so nobly displayed in the proceedings 
before the fort, and the subsequent storm, a numerous 
and desperate gang of robbers, has been rooted out 
from the country, and a considerable portion of their 
numbers annihilated, who, for nearly a century past, 



176 FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GUZERAT. 



ninsula of Guzerat. In that country no- 
thing was wanting to render the triumph of 
humanity perfect. The Resident had ob- 

have plundered and laid waste the surrounding terri- 
tory, and hitherto defied all efforts for their subjuga- 
tion. 

66 The devastated extent of country, through which 
the troops have marched, is a sufficient evidence of their 
depredations ; but this bears but a small proportion to 
their actual extent. 

" The extirpation of this nest of banditti has been 
reserved for the zeal and gallantry of British troops, 
and the memorable example which has been effected in 
the assault of yesterday, it is hoped, will have a most 
salutary impression on the country. 

{ < As the assault took place in the presence of seve- 
ral of the Brahmins and of the Vakeels of the chieftains 
of the country, a military spectacle of a column of Bri- 
tish troops, marching in open day, to the attack of a 
fort, against which batteries had not long been opened, 
was exhibited, of which they could have entertained 
previously no just conception ; but which could not 
fail to establish, in the minds of those spectators, and 
throughout the country, sentiments of the highest re- 
spect and admiration. In fact, the commanding officer 
is well assured, that this effect was produced, in pro- 
portion to the reputation, which the desperate banditti 
of Mallia, had acquired, in their repeated success, in 
repulsing the operations of powerful native armies, and 
their daring defiance of every restraint of lawful au- 
thority," &c. 



colonel walker's success, &c. 1 77 

tained formal written deeds, with the sig- 
natures of every man possessing any share 
of influence or power. " The list," — these 
are the Colonel's words — f the list contains 
not only every chieftain of note, but every 
inferior Jahrejah chief, who enjoys the least 
share of independence, and comprises, with- 
in its obligations, every Jahrejah family, in- 
habiting the peninsula of Guzerat." # 

The originals of these documents are depo- 
sited in the Company's treasury at Baroda, 
both for security of preservation, and for faci- 
lity of reference and appeal. Copies of them 
were, at the same time, communicated to 
the commander of the Guicawar army, in 
Kattywar, of whom honourable mention 
has been already made. A copy translat- 
ed of the engagements of the Jahrejahs to 
relinquish female infanticide, is given in 
the Appendix, together with a list of the 
chiefs, whose signatures were subjoined to 



* Report, par. 272. 

M 



178 FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN KUTCH. 

it. # — The deed itself cannot fail to be per- 
used with deep interest ; whilst its con- 
tents will serve to humanize the barbarous 
names of those chiefs, now returned to the 
feelings of nature, who stand pledged for 
their accomplishment. 

* See Appendix, No. 2. 



CHAPTER TENTH, 



Farther endeavours to abolish Female Infanticide 
in Kutch — Result of those Endeavours — Reflec- 
tions. 

Distinguished success renders even the 
phlegmatic sanguine, and the timid cou- 
rageous. Generally speaking, men can do 
what they think they can do ; and if diffi- 
culties dwindle not into insignificance, they 
at least, diminish in number and magni- 
tude, in the eyes of him, who greatly de- 
sires the accomplishment of his object. — If 
these things be so ; how must distinguish- 
ed success nerve with vigour that mind, 
which is stimulated to new efforts by op- 
position itself ; and on which, disappoint- 



180 FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN KUTCH. 

merit, in one quarter, has the effect of 
prompting new enterprise and new energy 
in another ? 

From the facts detailed in the preceding 
narrative, it is evident, that Colonel Wal- 
ker considered the abolition of female in- 
fanticide, as a thing that could not be pur- 
chased too dearly. Till the enterprise 
should be fairly proved to be impracticable, 
he was resolved to regard it as what must 
be accomplished ; and of its impracticabili- 
ty, no proof was to be admitted as fair and 
full, till every imaginable expedient had 
been attempted, and till all the influence 
and energy, which he could command, had 
been thrown into action, and the result as- 
certained. Instead of considering the 
cause as hopeless, because he had been dis- 
appointed in one attempt, or because one 
expedient had failed, he considered how 
the disappointment and failure might be 
turned to advantage. For contrivance and 
personal exertion, in all their variety, and 
in all their extent, were considered as well 



FARTHER ENDEAVOURS TO ABOLISH IT. 181 

and wisely bestowed, where the object was 
the re-assertion, on so large a scale, of the 
cause of humanity. 

In Guzerat, his hopes had now been re- 
alised beyond all that he had ventured to 
anticipate. His designs had been ultimate- 
ly carried into effect, with unimagined ce- 
lerity ; and he had now the happiness of 
regarding the cause of nature and of hu- 
man feeling, as having gained a sure and 
final triumph. To Kutch, therefore, he 
now naturally turned his eye ; and recent 
experience seemed to warrant his antici- 
pating, with confidence, in that quarter, 
also, the accomplishment of his object. 

It has been already noticed, that, about 
the end of September 1807, Colonel Wal- 
ker had addressed letters to Rao Saheb, 
Rajah of Kutch, and to the Jamadar, Fat- 
teh Mahomed ; and that the answer to 
them resembled all the communications on 
the subject, which had been then receiv- 
ed, by being in the greatest degree dis- 
couraging. But now that his wishes, more 



1S2 FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN KUTCH. 

properly than his hopes, had been accom- 
plished in Guzerat, the renewal of his ef- 
forts in Kutch seemed to promise a simi- 
lar result. 

On the 9th of January, 1808, according- 
ly, Colonel Walker again addressed Fat- 
teh Mahomed by letter, urging his good 
offices for the abolition of female infanti- 
cide, by every motive, which self-interest, 
humanity, and the principles of the Maho- 
medan faith could furnish ; and while en- 
deavouring to convince his reason, he did 
not fail to address the Jamadar's vanity, by 
referring to the fame of the great charac- 
ter, which he bore in the country of Kutch, 
for humanity and the love of justice. — 
" I feel," adds the Resident, " a strong de- 
sire to write you much at length on this 
subject; but to the wise a hint is enough."* 

The communication of October preced- 
ing was sufficient to secure Colonel Wal- 
ker from carrying his admiration of the 

% See the whole letter in the Appendix, No. 3. 



FARTHER ENDEAVOURS TO ABOLISH IT. 183 

Jamadar's wisdom to any undue excess ; 
but he was still unavoidably led to over- 
rate his power. To this letter we have al- 
ready adverted, as well as to the political 
situation of Fatteh Mahomed, in which that 
extraordinary production originated. To 
the Resident's last communication, an an- 
swer was received about the middle of Fe- 
bruary following, containing a great deal 
of similar matter. 

It breathes the same spirit of Jahrejah 
principles, and defends the abhorrent prac- 
tice of infanticide, as inviolable, on the 
ground of its antiquity, and the universal 
deference, with which it had been treated. 

It had been sanctioned, it is pretended, 
by the lapse of five thousand years, and 
uniformly respected by every government, 
with which the Jahrejahs had been con- 
nected. Every thing in this letter exhi- 
bits the special pleading of a Jahrejah for 
the abominable practice of infanticide, ex- 
cept a reference to that principle of Islam- 
ism, which deprives men of free agency, 



184f FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN KUTCH. 

as well as free will, and renders them inca- 
pable of evil, as well as of good, by ascrib- 
ing every event whatever to the irresisti- 
ble, and irreversible decree of Heaven. — 
" It is the decree of Heaven — God the 
merciful, the King of the two worlds, be 
praised !— Every one is pleased with his 
own faith." — 

In this last clause, we find him again re- 
lapsing into the Hindu superstition, which 
represents it as equally rational, that men 
should have different religions, as that they 
should inhabit different countries. — " On 
this account," continues the epistle, appa- 
rently of the Jamadar, but really of the 
Jahrejahs, — " On this account, and as the 
Jahrejahs are the relations and brothers of 
Rao Saheb, and I am an adherent of this 
Durbar, it is not proper for me to say any 
thing on the subject to the Jahrejahs, and 
it would not have effect, nor ever will." 

The conclusion of this paragraph discov- 
ered, what was afterwards more definitely 
ascertained, that the Jamadar's power, in 



FARTHER ENDEAVOURS TO ABOLISH IT. 185 



Kutch, had not only been over-rated, but 
was, in fact, almost merely nominal. # It 
was found, indeed, that this letter had 
been dictated by Jahrejah chiefs, to whom 
a Brahmin acted as amanuensis ; that there 
was not a more dependent man in Kutch, 
than Fatteh Mahomed ; and that whatever 
hopes might be cherished of abolishing in- 

* A few sentences will be requisite to communicate 
just notions of the Jamadar's situation. — In some re- 
spects his power is paramount in Kutch. He holds the 
person of his sovereign in confinement, and exercises 
the government in his name ; but actually at his own 
discretion. The rest of the Jahrejah chiefs in Kutch 
submit to this usurpation ; as, in times of public disor- 
der, they have the means of increasing their own power 
and consequence. Thus their privileges and the 
sphere of their jurisdiction are extended; which their 
own sovereign, in possession of power, or at liberty to 
exercise it, would be disposed to curb and restrain. 
In this situation, however, Fatteh Mahomed holds his 
power only by the sufferance of the chiefs, and dares 
not attempt so great an innovation on the fundamen- 
tal customs of the Jahrejahs, as the abolition of infan- 
ticide. His feelings, too, are, no doubt, blunted, by 
seeing this crime against nature, so generally commit- 
ted by those, whose favour it is his interest to cultivate, 
and on whose pleasure, in fact, the continuance of his 
power depends. 



186 FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN KUTCH. 

fanticide in that country, little was to 
be expected from the Jamadar. — " It ap- 
pears," says the Resident, " that the Jah- 
rejah Byaud of Kutch could easily over- 
turn the usurped authority of Fatteh Ma- 
homed, and that they only sanction, or sub- 
mit to it, in consideration that they have 
acquired thereby an extension of their own 
authority, and many illegal possessions ; 
but it is generally understood, that, if this 
Jamadar attempts to deprive them of any 
of their privileges, or to circumscribe their 
unjust acquisitions, they could, without 
much difficulty, deprive him of his own 
power. Under these circumstances," he 
adds, " we cannot, probably, indulge any 
strong hope, that the suppression of infan- 
ticide will soon be attained in Kutch, and 
in the actual state of affairs in that coun- 
try, they may afford some apology for 
Fatteh Mahomed, appearing as a constrain- 
ed advocate, perhaps, for the unnatural 
crime of infanticide." # 

* Report, par. 275, 276. 



FARTHER ENDEAVOURS TO ABOLISH IT. 187 



In a short time after the period, to which 
we have now referred, Colonel Walker left 
the country, and with deep regret we must 
add, without being able to extend to Kutch 
the blessings he had conferred on Guzerat. 
He left it, however, in the hope, that what 
he had begun would be completed by his 
successors. To them he communicated 
the lights he had acquired ; and although 
personally absent, his mind has been ever 
present to the great design, receiving with 
characteristic interest the communications 
made to him on the subject, suggesting ex- 
pedients, and watching over the progress, 
and weighing the results of every new at- 
tempt. 

Of the persons, to whom this interesting 
and favourite object of Colonel Walker's 
was committed, and who entered with feel- 
ing into his views, one has gone the way 
whence mortals do not return.^ 

* Captain Greenwood. He died at Cambay on the 
21st November, 1810, in the prime of life; and was 
equally deplored by his friends and the Company's Go- 



IBS FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN KUTCH. 



The accounts transmitted to this coun- 
try, since Colonel Walker's return to it, re- 
lative to the exertions to abolish infanticide 
in Kutch, must be allowed to be scanty 
and imperfect. What is communicated, 
however, reflects credit on the philanthropic 
views of the Honourable Court of Directors 
at home, and the benevolent efforts of their 
servants in India. Among the things, in 
the papers alluded to, which cannot fail to 
gratify the readers of these pages, are the 
well-merited encomiums passed on the la- 
bours of Colonel Walker.* 

However we may be disposed to appre- 
ciate the prospects before us, one thing, 
certainly pleasing, is, that the Bombay Go- 
vernment. In the Indian newspapers of that year, he 
is spoken of in very high terms, as a gallant and enter- 
prising officer, advancing rapidly to public eminence in 
his profession, and the service, in which, in recent years, 
he had been engaged. As a man, he was distinguished 
by the benevolence of his heart and the superiority of 
his talents, by the urbanity of his manners, and above 
all, by the warmth and sincerity of his friendship. 
* These papers will be found in the Appendix, No. 3. 



FARTHER ENDEAVOURS TO ABOLISH IT. 189 

vernment continues to take a deep interest 
in producing, in Kutch 5 the same happy ef- 
fects, which are now in operation in Guze- 
rat. Notwithstanding the discoveries made 
of the real situation of the Jamadar, Fatteh 
Mahomed, it is still thought necessary to 
have recourse to him, as the organ of com- 
munication with the Rajah of that country. 
It is by no means gratifying to add, that 
his writing bears, with wonderful exactness, 
all the characters, which we had occasion 
previously to notice. 

In a letter from him, in the beginning of 
181 1, # he admits infanticide to be a " hor- 
rid cruelty," contrary to the " doctrines 
of Islamism and Christianity," and also to 
the " religious institutions of the Hindus." 
He then repeats his old defence of the 
practice, on the ground of its antiquity, as- 
serting it to have existed for the 5000 pre- 
ceding years. He next pleads, in very pe- 
culiar phraseology, the respect, with which 

* Dated 15th January, 1811. See Appendix, No. 3. 



190 FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN KUTCH. 

the barbarous custom had been treated by 
every " Persian, or Arabian sovereign, who 
has flourished on earth ;" and adds, " it 
must be accordingly inexpedient and im- 
proper in me, who have been cherished by 
his Highness, to, discuss this subject with 
the Jahrejah people." In conclusion, he 
offers his unreserved services, on all suit- 
able occasions, always, however, excepting 
from this character, the particular point in 
question ; but regarding future correspon- 
dence on other subjects, as the " height of 
human felicity." 

Although previous disappointment had 
checked the more sanguine aspirations of 
hope ; the substance of this letter was as 
discouraging, as was, even in these circum- 
stances, to be anticipated. With a man, 
who will fairly look an argument in the 
face, (if the expression be allowed,) there 
is reason to expect, that the cause of truth 
and humanity will finally prevail. But 
when every appeal to the understanding 
and the heart, and the yet more awful con- 



FARTHER ENDEAVOURS TO ABOLISH IT. 191 

siderations, which involve the approbation, 
or disapprobation of Him, who trieth the 
heart, and who will finally decide upon the 
secret thoughts, as well as the outward act, 
are met by mere jargon and a jingle of 
words, there is felt something more dis- 
couraging than decided opposition itself, 
where that opposition retains any thing 
open and candid. 

There seems to be just reason for appre- 
hending, that the Jarnadar feels not the 
least assignable interest in the abolition of 
infanticide ; and that, for the accomplish- 
ment of it, he would not risk the smallest 
chance of suffering in his individual in- 
terests. At the same time, it is evident, 
that he is desirous of subserving any views 
of the Company's Government, provided 
his more immediate interests remain unaf- 
fected. This unquestionable fact holds out 
encouragement for perseverance ; and, in- 
deed, after the difficulties already encoun- 
tered and overcome in Guzerat, nothing 



192 



FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN KUTCH. 



but demonstrated impossibility should re- 
lax the efforts of philanthropy in Kutch. 

Impressed, no doubt, with such views, 
the Bombay Government, zealously per- 
severe in the noble enterprise. From their 
late President, indeed, the Honourable Jo- 
nathan Duncan, we should naturally expect 
whatever wisdom and benevolence could 
effect ; and we cannot be insensible to a 
species of consecrated admiration, when we 
contemplate this venerable man devoting 
his last labours to the promotion of this 
good cause. Towards the end of March, 
181 1, he addressed another letter to Fatteh 
Mahomed, characterised by a zeal and ar- 
dour worthy of his obiect. # 

Among the motives suggested for the 
Jamadar's consideration, Mr Duncan refers 
to Colonel Walker's exertions in Katty- 
war, and the success, with which they were 
crowned. And it is very gratifying to ob- 
serve the terms, in which he is able to 

* See Appendix, No. 3. 

S 



FARTHER ENDEAVOURS TO ABOLISH IT. 193 

mention his own labours, in the same cause, 
many years before, in the Zilla of Juanpore 
in the province of Benares, among the Raj- 
poot tribe of Raj-Koomars. " Since which," 
adds he, " the acts of these Raj-Koomars 
have remained unsullied with such barbar- 
ous and unnatural deeds, as the murder of 
their own offspring. — I inclose," he con- 
tinues, " a translation of the engagement, 
which these Raj-Koomars, on that account, 
entered into, under date the 17th Decem- 
ber 1789. And the respectable Captain 
Carnack, Resident at Baroda, # will forward 
a transcript of the engagement to the same 
effect, entered into with Colonel Walker, 
by the Jahrejahs of Kattywar, both which 
writings I recommend your confidentially 
imparting, together with copies of my for- 
mer and present letters to you on this im- 
portant subject, to some of the most discreet 
of the headmen of that tribe in Cutch, and 

* To this Gentleman, who has succeeded Colonel 
Walker, it is natural to look with eager expectation, 

N 



/ 



194? FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN KUTCH. 

on whom, I cannot doubt, the perusal and 
consideration thereof will produce a salu- 
tary effect, and awaken their feelings to a 
sense of the murderous habitudes, to which 
they and their ancestors have been thu§ 
long inured." 

Of this application we have not yet learn- 
ed the result. That little immediate ad- 
vantage was derived from it, appears from 
the fact, that, up to the date of October 
following, it had received no answer. In 
the political letter from Bombay of that 
date, there is a reference to the continued 
prevalence of the practice in Kutch, with 
promises on the part of that Presidency to 
persevere io so worthy a cause, till their 
efforts issue in the accomplishment of their 
object. 

It would be idle to enter more particu- 
larly into the detail of measures, which have 
hitherto proved inefficient. It will natu- 
rally be imagined, that they bore as near 
an analogy to those which were success- 
fully adopted in Guzerat* as the circum- 



FARTHER ENDEAVOURS TO ABOLISH IT. 19lt 

stances of the case, and particularly the 
barbarism of the people, and the difference 
of the political relation of that country to 
the Company's government, admitted. Our 
influence there is no more than what may 
arise from a general good understanding, 
without any direct political connection. 

But whilst we contemplate the state of 
Kutch with regret, we should by no means 
contemplate it with despair. Were we told 
that the abolition of infanticide, in that 
country, is impossible, we should regard 
the assertion, as one of those, which have 
been contradicted by experience, and as 
contrary to all that we know of man, and 
of human things. The proud and pre- 
sumptuous vaunt of the Medes and Per- 
sians, that their laws were immutable, has 
now, for thousands of years, been enrolled 
on the record of human follies ; and is told 
as one of the vanities that were, Not less 
unalterable did the Jahrejahs of Guzerat 
pronounce the horrid practice of infanticide 

• i 

& v s 



196 FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN KUTCH. 

among themselves; and that too has yielded 
before wisdom and perseverance. 

That the production of the same effect 
in Kutch is difficult, we readily admit to be 
evinced by experience, and by the facts, 
to which we have alluded. But what 
then ? — Are we to abandon the mighty en- 
terprise, because we cannot accomplish it, 
whilst lolling on the lap of indolence, and 
indulging the somnolency of intellect amid 
the shades of inglorious ease ? — If such 
minds there be, we rejoice to say that we 
hold no sentiment in common with them. — 
We think of the name of Howard, and won- 
der at the almost infinite labours of an in- 
dividual, from whose vocabulary the word 
impossible seems to have been excluded. 
We look to the wilds of Africa, now made 
glad, and pour our blessings on the heads 
of Wilberforce and Clarkson, whose immor- 
talized names shall be bright for ever on 
the annals of philanthropy. We look to 
Guzerat, and to the accomplishment there, 
of what had been pronounced to be impos- 



FARTHER ENDEAVOURS TO ABOLISH IT. 197 

sible ; and, catching from all one mighty 
emotion, justified and inspired by fact and 
experience, we declare, unhesitatingly, the 
conviction, that the extension of the same 
blessing to the neighbouring country is 
merely delayed, that it is now in progress, 
and will soon be realized. 

As we shall not have occasion to resume 
the subject, in the sequel, in so far as it re- 
gards Kutch, we may be permitted to state 
some of the grounds of our hope, as well as, 
respectfully, to suggest some hints, which 
may not be unworthy of the consideration 
of those, on whose exertions our expecta- 
tions are founded. 

That the abolition of female infanticide, 
in Kutch, is now in progress, may be in- 
ferred from what we know to have been of 
great importance in Guzerat, and that is, 
the free discussion of the subject : That 
which had not been questioned for ages, and 
which for that reason had been practised 
without remorse, and considered as the 
badge and privilege of cast, has now been 



198 FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN KUTCH. 

doubted and disapproved, reprobated and 
abandoned, by the Jahrejahs of Guzerat. 
Although this be not of itself sufficient to 
accomplish the desired object in Kutch ; 
yet, in connection with other measures, we 
may calculate, as considerable, the collate- 
ral aid arising from the joint influence of 
free discussion and respected example. 

The applicability of hints must depend 
upon circumstances. It is true, that, at 
present, we have no direct political connec- 
tion with Kutch, and our influence there- 
fore must be indirect. Had we such an al- 
liance with that country, as we have with 
Guzerat, the difficulties would be greatly 
diminished. In that case, there should be 
superior marks of trust and confidence, ex- 
pended to those Jahrejahs, who have aban- 
doned the practice. — Such political offices, 
or advantages, as it might be thought fit 
to bestow on natives at all, should be be- 
stowed on no Jahrejah, who had not relin- 
quished infanticide : persons so trusted, or 
honoured, should be discouraged from hold- 



FARTHER ENDEAVOURS TO ABOLISH IT. 199 

ng intercourse with such as continue the 
practice. The sentiment should gain as 
extensive currency as possible, that we can 
never entrust our interests, our property, 
or the administration of justice, even in the 
most trifling degree, to persons whose ava- 
rice is stronger than their natural affec- 
tion ; and that neither our lives, nor any 
thing that renders them comfortable, can 
be considered as safe, with persons, who 
have the barbarity to destroy their own 
offspring. As things now are, the Jahre- 
jahs of Guzerat should be discouraged from 
giving their daughters in marriage to fami- 
lies, who have not abandoned infanticide, 
except upon the express, and stipulated 
condition, that their female progeny should 
be preserved. So far, also, as our political 
influence extends, we should discourage 
those tribes, from whom the Jahrejahs of 
Kutch obtain wives, from continuing to do 
so, till they have relinquished infanticide. 
They should be represented as having more 
than an equal share in the guilt and dis- 



200 FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN KUTCH. 

grace of the practice, by doing that, with- 
out which, the practice itself must neces- 
sarily cease. 

The sentiment should be continually re- 
echoed, also, that little affection can be ex- 
pected by the wife of him, who commands 
the murder of her children. These tribes 
should ever be reminded, that their present 
conduct degrades them even below the 
Jahrejahs; that they alone are chargeable, 
both in the sight of God and man, with all 
the guilt, which the horrid crime of infan- 
ticide involves ; and that, by simply refu- 
sing their daughters to them in marriage, 
they should necessarily put an end to that 
foul outrage on human nature. 

While these suggestions are offered for 
consideration, it is readily perceived, that 
they can be but of little value to those 
who can turn them to advantage. Wis- 
dom, perseverance, a deep insight into hu- 
man nature ; a benevolence, ardent and 
vigilant ; a temper characterised by that 
equanimity, which permits not itself to be 



FARTHER ENDEAVOURS TO ABOLISH IT. 20l 

fretted by disappointment, and which, in- 
stead of being irritated by ingratitude, shall 
render even that ingratitude subservient, 
by nobly rising superior to it ; and (as cir- 
cumstances may suggest,) continuing or 
increasing the benefits, to which the recei- 
ver had been hitherto insensible ; for the 
evidence of disinterestedness has a power- 
ful charm to every mind.— Such is the com- 
bination of qualities, to which, in connec- 
tion with political influence, we may look 
for ultimate success. — But, above all, he 
who shall earn the wreath of humanity in 
the country of Kutch, must sedulously 
study the labours of Colonel Walker in the 
peninsula of Guzerat. — And it is with 
pleasure that we now turn to consider the 
manner, in which his triumphs have been 
secured. 



i 



CHAPTER ELEVENTH. 



Means taken to give effect to the Engagements of 
the Jahrejahs in Guzerat to abolish Infanticide. 

The suddenness, with which the Jahre- 
jahs ultimately fell in with the measure of 
abolition, when the example had been given 
by the chief of Gondal, cannot, as Colonel 
Walker observes, be satisfactorily account- 
ed for on any principles of human conduct. 
The opposition which he had experienced 
was intense and general, and in some cases, 
obstinate and pertinacious in the extreme; 
yet the relinquishment was at last prompt, 
universal, and apparently cordial. In the 
preceding part of this work, it has been at- 
tempted to develope as naturally, and with 



MEANS TAKEN TO SECURE THE ABOLITION. 2G8 

as much simplicity as possible, the causes 
to which this happy event is to be traced. 

The writer of these pages pretends not 
to a deeper insight into the agency of 
causes, than the enlightened and benevo- 
lent character, whose successful labours, 
he has felt much satisfaction in attempting 
accurately to delineate, and justly to appre- 
ciate. But he imagines that the Resident 
would have had less difficulty in account- 
ing for the result, if another had achieved 
the splendid enterprize, and if some of the 
causes of success had not been personal 
and peculiar to himself. 

We have already adverted to the power 
of example over the mass of a population, 
who resigned to their chiefs the dictation of 
their sentiments, as well as the rule of their 
persons. We have also noticed the influ- 
ence of free and public discussion, where 
custom has been considered as law, and 
antiquity, as the criterion of rectitude. 
The procurement, in addition to these, of 
respected example, appears to have invol- 



204 FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GUZERAT, 

t 

ved the final accomplishment of the philan- 
thropic project. 

Not again to enter into minuter views of 
the subject, we may conclude, from the 
preceding details, that there exits between 
the Jahrejah population of Guzerat and 
their chiefs, a bond of union similar to that, 
which formerly constituted the spirit and 
essence of the feudal system in Europe. 
The chief enjoyed all the power of a de- 
spot, without the odium and insecurity at- 
tached to the name. Nothing could ex- 
ceed the promptitude and extent of obe- 
dience, w r hich he experienced, nor the sin- 
cerity of attachment, whence it proceeded. 
The meanest vassal considered himself as 
promoting his personal interest and honour 
in those of his chief : the same blood flowed 
in the veins of both ; and of both the para- 
mount object was the honour of the clan. 
This system involved the most complete 
subjection, in union with the loftiest senti- 
ments of independence and freedom. 
Such a state of society presents a power^ 



MEANS TAKEN TO SECURE THE ABOLITION. 205 

ful barrier to improvement, or even to 
change. To maintain the pleasure of the 
chief against another clan, or even against 
the sovereign himself, was identified with 
the point of honour, which was personal to 
each individual vassal. When the spirit of 
clanship exhibited itself in acts of insubor- 
dination to regal authority, legislative en- 
actment was found to be futile, and of no 
avail. If kingly power were employed to 
crush a single clan, its pretensions, be they 
ever so unjust, were immediately supported 
by other clans, however rancorous had been 
the feuds, which formerly existed between 
them. Reciprocity of interests, in similar 
exigencies, constituted a claim, which ne- 
ver was urged in vain, and a bond of union, 
whicb superinduced the temporary oblivion 
of former differences. 

Those who possess the least smattering 
of knowledge in the history of our own 
country, know w T ith what difficulty this 
closely compacted system was broken in 
Scotland. But it was broken; and there 



c 208 FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GUZERAT. 



is nothing human, of which invincibility 
and immutability can be predicated. To 
produce the first impression, constituted 
the great difficulty. This being accom- 
plished, the rest followed with more rapi- 
dity than the apparent durability of the 
materials seemed to promise. 

It is obvious, that, in the Scottish clans, 
we have selected a strong case, with which 
to compare the state of the Jahrejahs in 
Guzerat. In this last country, the spirit 
had long been broken. The Rajahs were 
themselves, to no inconsiderable extent, in 
a state of vassalage. Consolidation of power, 
and union of interests, existed no more. 
Sentiment, prejudice, and particularly the 
associations connected with consanguinity, 
formed the only basis, on which the autho- 
rity of the chieftain rested, Before the in- 
fluence of knowledge, and the perception 
of other interests, his power must gradual- 
ly dwindle into debility, and his authority 
into a name. 

When the Rajah no longer possesses the 



MEANS TAKEN TO SECURE THE ABOLITION. 207 

power to protect, and no longer glitters in 
the barbaric pomp of obsequious retinue, 
he must cease to be regarded with wonted 
reverence. Formerly, he was the source 
of every human benefit. Honour and in- 
famy, punishment and reward, attended 
upon his undisputed will. It is now found, 
that there is a power superior to his, to 
which he himself submits, and on which, in 
a great measure, he depends. Those whom 
he formerly ruled, yield, as a matter of 
course, to that authority, which he him- 
self acknowledges, and is unable to resist. 
A new source of benefits, therefore, is now 
opened. The current of hopes, and of fears, 
flows in unwonted channels ; and the in- 
terests of individuals are now separate, and 
independent of their chiefs. 

When, therefore, in the abolition of fe- 
male infanticide, the consent of a respected 
chief was obtained — and we have seen the 
difficulties, with which this was attended — t 
the accomplishment of the great moral en- 
terprise soon followed. The resistance of 



208 FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GUZERAT. 

the mass of the population was not to be an- 
ticipated, as both the sources of authority, 
between which their submission and reve- 
rence were divided, that of their chiefs, and 
the Company's government, were now com- 
bined. 

To some, perhaps, these remarks may 
not appear to bear very directly upon the 
subject immediately before us, which was 
announced to be a view of the means taken 
to give effect to the engagements of the 
Jahrejahs. It is presumed, however, that 
closer inspection will satisfy the ingenuous 
inquirer, that the facts, by which these ob- 
servations have been suggested, guarantee, 
in a great measure, the security and effi- 
ciency of the more detailed and palpable 
means, which were adopted for that pur- 
pose, as well as open up yet more exten- 
sive moral prospects. 

Having adverted to these general prin- 
ciples, we shall now attend to the nature 
and extent of those particular engage- 
ments, into which the Jahrejah chiefs en- 



♦ 



MEANS TAKEN TO SECURE THE ABOLITION. 209 

ters to relinquish female infanticide. The 
obligations of the deed, which was ratified 
by every chief, possessing the smallest de- 
gree of independence, extend to every fa- 
mily in the peninsula of Guzerat, Female 
infanticide is represented, in this document, 
as a crime, blackened with every imaginable 
aggravation, as contrary to the Hindu faith, 
as involving the greatest guilt, that can 
pollute the nature of man, and exposing 
the perpetrator to the severest and Unima- 
ginable horrors of hell in a future state. 
In this deed, in short, is brought together, 
in one view, whatever can appal and hor- 
rify the mind against a crime, committed 
in defiance of reason, of feeling, and of re- 
ligion. The divine vengeance is repre- 
sented as pursuing the guilty in this woifld, 
as well as in the world to come, as with- 
holding earthly prosperity, and poisoning 
the springs of every human comfort. The 
subscribers to the deed, accordingly acknow- 
ledge their compliance as induced by a re- 

Q 



i 



210 . FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GUZttKAT. 

gard to the honour of their religion, and to 
their present and future welfare. 

To the sanctions of religion is added that 
of expulsion from cast: an infliction, which, 
thousrh 1 ess awful and tremendous than 
Europeans have been generally taught to 
believe, is yet sufficiently great to guard 
men against the incurrence of it on slight 
grounds. Supposing, therefore, the bosom 
steeled against all the tender emotions of 
nature, and parental affection, a thing 
which is not to be imagined, in ordinary 
cases ; and, supposing the degraded, and 
brutalized mind, to regard the rearing of 
female children, only in reference to the 
expence, which it involves ; still that ex- 
pence, or, which is the same thing, the pri- 
vations originating in it, will, even when 
exaggerated to the utmost, appear slight 
and trifling, compared to the evils of ex- 
pulsion from cast, the reprobation of their 
brethren, and other temporal inflictions, 
which are yet unnoticed. 

Now, in the engagement, all this is pro- 



MEANS TAKEN TO SECURE THE ABOLITION. 211 

vided, in such a way, as to give it full effect. 
The concluding, and that which may be 
termed the enacting, clause runs thus: 
" We Jahrejah Dewajee, &c. do hereby 
agree for ourselves, and for our offspring, 
as also we bind ourselves in behalf of our re- 
lations, and their offspring for ever; for the 
sake of our own prosperity, and for the 
credit of the Hindu faith ; that we shall, 
from this day, renounce this practice ; and 
in default of this, that we acknowledge our- 
selves offenders against the Sircars. More- 
over, should any one in future commit this 
offence, we shall expel him from our cast, 
and he shall be punished, according to the 
pleasure of the two governments" — mean- 
ing the Guicawar government, and that of 
the English Company — " and the rule of 
the Shasters." 

From the conclusion of the preceding 
extract, it appears, that a legal right is ac- 
knowledged in the two governments to en- 
force the accurate observance of the stipu- 
lations. The perpetration of infanticide is 



212 FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GUZERAT. 

become a crime and an act of hostility 
against the constituted authorities. The 
punishment to be inflicted, also, in cases 
of delinquency, has been, in part, wisely left 
undefined. There is something, which is 
certain, definite, and unavoidable ; and 
there is something more, which is unknown, 
and entirely at the will of the judges. In 
consequence of this wise arrangement, 
every motive is employed on the side of 
nature ; as there is no extremity of human 
evil, to which the guilty may not be sub- 
jected. 

In so far, therefore, as stipulation and 
enactment can go, there is nothing left for 
us to desire in the present case. That the 
Jahrejahs, also, regarded any engagement, 
into which they should enter, as what 
would be certainly carried into effect, ap- 
pears from their intense and pertinacious 
opposition to the Resident's proposal in its 
early stages. If they could have perceived 
the means of rendering such an engage- 
ment a dead letter, by evading its practical 



MEANS TAKEN TO SECURE THE ABOLITION. 21$ 

operation, a regard to their interests would 
have prompted a speedy compliance in form. 
It was evidently in a conviction, that this 
was impossible, that their opposition origi- 
nated. Their final concurrence, therefore, 
not resulting from the hope of evasion, nor 
from any sudden impulse % we have reason 
to connect the measure of abolition with 
the return, of reason and sentiment, and 
natural feeling. 

In a letter from the chief secretary of 
the Bombay Government,* acknowledging 
the receipt of Colonel Walker's Report, and 
its accompaniments, f after the expression 
of high encomiums on the Resident's zeal 
and success in the cause of humanity, the 
Governor in Council, the honourable Jona- 
than Duncan — a name that will not be soon 
forgotten by good men — suggests several 
hints, well calculated to give efficacy to 
what had been atchieved. To ascertain 
the extent, to which the Jahrejahs observe 

* Dated 3ist March, 1808. 
f Dated 15th March* 1SQ8, 



214s FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GUZERAT. 

their engagements, accordingly, regular 
periodical returns are required to be made 
of the visible operation of the new system; 
and it is enjoined, that, during the first 
years, in particular, minute and special at- 
tention be paid to the accuracy and regu- 
larity of these returns. — " You are accord- 
ingly," continues the letter, " desired to 
concert with the Guicawar government, 
the best means for obtaining periodical no- 
tices of the operation of the obligations : 
making it, also, a rule to submit, (exclu- 
sive of such intermediate reports as may 
become necessary,) one general statement 
on the last day of each year, how far the 
amended system has been acted on and 
observed ; what deviations are known, or 
suspected, to have been made from its 
rules, and what measures pursued for their 
enforcement: the whole to be accompanied 
with an estimate of the number of lives, 
that may, under the blessing of divine Pro- 
vidence, be thus ultimately saved to the 
community." 



MEANS TAKEN TO SECURE THE ABOLITION. 215 

Although the nature of the case pre- 
cludes the possibility of perfect accuracy* 
in the detection of delinquents ; yet the 
number of female children, in every Jahre- 
jah family, will afford general evidence, 
which will derive subsidiary confirmation 
from several collateral circumstances. It 
was proposed, that, in cases, in which the 
violation of their engagements had been 
ascertained, " a moderate fine should be 
always imposed, with the privity of the Bri- 
tish government," through the Resident; 
and " the amount of it applied to the re- 
lief of those among the more indigent 
classes of the Jahrejahs, who should be 
known to fulfil and adhere to the letter and 
spirit of their engagements." — If, however, 
cases should occur, in which pecuniary pe- 
nalty might not be deemed the most effi- 
cacious, recourse might be had to " the in- 
fliction of such different description of pe- 
nalties as the local authorities might deem 
the most impressive, and likely to ensure 
the attainment of an object, so highly sa- 



£16 FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GUZERAT. s 

lutary, and indispensible in all respects, as 
is the extirpation of the baneful practice of 
infanticide, from all the districts of Katty- 
war, with an ultimate view to the same huv 
mane object in Kutch." 

The requisition of periodical returns was 
obviously judicious ; but the most effectual 
mode of administering what was now hap- 
pily become law, as obviously depended 
much more upon the wisdom and zeal of 
the local authorities, than upon the Bom- 
bay government ; and on their discretion 
and energy, accordingly, much will ulti- 
mately depend. 

In reviewing the means adopted to give 
efficiency to the abolition of the atrocious 
and unnatural practice of infanticide; it will 
be allowed, that they promise as much suc- 
cess, as any expedients, which we might 
fairly anticipate from human wisdom and 
foresight. What was formerly deemed an 
honourable distinction and privilege of the 
Jahrejahs, now draws upon them infamy 
and disgrace : what was once associated 



MEANS TAKEN TO SECURE THE ABOLITION. 217 

with their temporal interests, may now in- 
volve the ruin of their affairs : what, by a ' 
perversion of human reason, had been re- 
garded as the characteristic of becoming 
pride and pre-eminence, is now become the 
crime of the base and mercenary. In short, 
female infanticide is now a deed of dark- 
ness, which withdraws from the [perpetra- 
tor all human pity, which visits him with 
positive evils in this world, and subjects 
him to the indescribable vengeance of of- 
fended Heaven hereafter. 

Such being the theoretical nature of the 
means employed, we shall now enquire how 
far their probable tendency has been real- 
ized by experience. 



CHAPTER TWELFTH. 

How far Expectation has been justified by the re- 
sult of the Measures adopted. 

W e now proceed to contemplate the ac- 
tual result of those labours, of which we 
have already attempted to describe the na- 
ture, and appreciate the wisdom and va- 
lue. 

Notwithstanding all human caution to 
provide against unfavourable contingencies, 
and to give security to the good that has 
been achieved; it seldom happens, that our 
most chastened anticipations are fully jus- 
tified by the issue. When human nature, 
shooting wild and luxuriant, amid all its 
native and contracted corruptions, forms 



HOW FAR EXPECTATION IS JUSTIFIED. 219 

the materials, on which we have to operate; 
^ it is generally found, that there is so much 
of the intractable and inflexible, left out of 
view in our calculations, and for the coun- 
teraction of which, accordingly, no provi- 
sion has been made, that, in the moment 
of expected triumph, defeat and disappoint- 
ment paralyse our efforts, and extinguish 
our hopes. In such a work of reformation, 
therefore, as has occupied our attention, 
to have anticipated success, in every indi- 
vidual instance, would involve great igno- 
rance of human nature. But when it is 
considered that the portion of human na- 
ture, on which the experiment was to be 
made, was such as is exhibited in Hindus- 
tan, where we have been accustomed to 
hear it so stoutly maintained, that every 
thing is immutable, and must for ever remain 
as it now is, we might be excused for con- 
siderable misgivings of heart, and for che- 
rishing hopes of a very undaring nature. 

The result, however, has warranted us 
to say, with an elevated and decisive tone, 



220 FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GUZERAT, 

" Let us hear no more of Hindus, as if pos- 
sessed of a nature different from other men." 
To such as are disposed to persist in telling 
us, that the amelioration of Hindustan is 
chimerical, and impossible, we point to the 
peninsula of Guzerat, and bid them con- 
template the labours and success of Colonel 
W alker, one individual human being, and 
to retract a dogma, so much at variance 
both with reason and experience : we in- 
vite the friends of the human race to con- 
template the same facts, and, trusting in 
that gracious Providence, which always fa- 
vours good designs, " not to be weary in 
well-doing," but to be assured, that, " in 
due time, they shall reap, if they faint not." 

Indeed, the success of Colonel Walker's 
efforts has been much greater than could 
have been fairly expected, as if intended 
by Providence to silence for ever that ig- 
norance and insensibility, which, under a 
pretended affection for the Hindus, would 
leave them to all the moral evils of their 
present degraded condition. 



HOW FAR EXPECTATION IS JUSTIFIED, 221 

Agreeably to the suggestion of the Go- 
vernor in Council to make periodical re- 
turns of the operation of the engagements 
of the Jahrejahs, Colonel Walker transmit- 
ted a letter to Bombay, containing the re- 
sult of his investigations during the pre- 
ceding month,* In the accompaniments 
are exhibited the names and residences of 
the families, where daughters had been 
born, together with a statement of their 
ages. The returns made at this period 
extended only to a small district. It was 
to be expected, also, that, in the incipient 
operation of the new system, more instan- 
ces of departure from it would occur than 
afterwards. Even at this period, however, 
the instances discovered were so few as 
three ; and in the investigation of one of 
these cases, there was some uncertainty 

* For this letter (dated 16th December, 180S,) see 
ppendix, No- 4. 

■f See Note to par. 89 of the Report, quoted in the 
Appendix, No, 5. 



222 FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GUZERAT* 



whether the infant's death were natural, or 
violent. 

The light in which we are to view these 
exceptions, will obviously depend on the 
number of cases, in which the agreement 
had been observed. According to the li- 
mited investigation made, the births disco- 
vered were twenty-nine, the natural deaths 
two, and those which were either known, 
or suspected to be violent, three. 

The Colonel's informant in Moorbee 
mentions four persons of his acquaintance, 
who, agreeably to their engagement, had 
saved their daughters, and then adds, that 
£t many others have followed the same prac- 
tice, and that it has become universal." — 
Notwithstanding this last gratifying re- 
mark, perhaps the numbers above stated 
may be considered as pointing out the fair 
proportions both of the observers and vio- 
lators of the engagement, throughout Gu- 
zerat, in the early period of the abolition. 

It will be considered as not a little re~ 



HOW FAR EXPECTATION IS JUSTIFIED. 22$ 

markable, that the Chief of Gondal should 
be numbered among the delinquents. Yet 
so it was. He, who first set the example 
to others of relinquishing the barbarous 
practice, was the first, also, who was con- 
victed of violating the agreement. What- 
ever had been his merit in the first in- 
stance, it was now cancelled and to be for- 
gotten, in conduct, which admitted of no 
palliation, which had become contrary to 
law, and exposed him to punishment. He 
was subjected, accordingly, to a consider- 
able pecuniary fine, which was destined for 
the benefit of those who had saved their 
female infants. The punishment, thus in- 
flicted, obviously originated in disinterested 
benevolence ; and the natives could easily 
perceive, that the Resident's object, in the 
whole of this affair, was solely their own 
benefit. And nothing certainly can ope- 
rate so powerfully on the minds of such 
men in particular, as clear and indubitable 
proof, that their own good alone is intend- 
ed. That it did so act upon their minds. 



f 

224t FBsMALE INFANTICIDE IN GUZERAT. 

we have sufficient evidence, which will be 
partly exhibted in the sequel. 

The instance alluded to, as uncertain 
whether the infanticide were perpetrated or 
not, was examined with all possible care : 
as it was wisely deemed of great importance 
to be peculiarly vigilant at the commence- 
ment of the new system. The evidence 
exhibited, however, although it might not 
wipe away all suspicion, did not appear to 
justify the infliction of punishment.* 

When the period for the next annual 
return arrived, Colonel Walker still found 
himself under the necessity of presenting 
the result of an investigation in a small 
district. The difficulties, indeed, in India, 
of a minute and comprehensive return, em- 
bracing every individual case, are such as 
cannot be imagined by one, whose ideas on 
the subject, are derived only from the ar- 
rangements in our own country. 

* See a relation of the curious circumstances con- 
nected with this case in the Note to par. 89 of the Re- 
port, quoted in the Appendix, No. 5. 



HOW FAR EXPECTATION IS JUSTIFIED. 225 

Towards the close of 1809, Colonel Wal- 
ker had made a halt at Dherole, where 
such an investigation was instituted, as cir- 
cumstances admitted. The instances, re- 
ported in his list, " fell," says he, " under 
my own direct observance. On my halt at 
Dherole," he adds, " I had all those in the 
immediate neighbourhood, who were ca- 
pable of attending, brought to my tent ; 
and many were too young to be brought to 
any distance. It was extremely gratify- 
ing, on this occasion, to observe the triumph 
of nature, feeling, and parental affection, 
over prejudice and a horrid superstition ; 
and that those, who, but a short period be- 
fore, would, ag many of them had done, 
have doomed their infants to destruction 
without compunction, should now glory in 
their preservation, and doat on them with 
fondness."* 

The list referred to contains the names 

* Colonel Walker's letter, dated JSaroda, 2.5th. Dec. 
1809. 

P 



226 FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GUZERAT. 

of thirty-two families who had daughters 
born to them within the period, to which 
the engagement extended, and then alive. 
It is peculiarly gratifying to add, that they 
had been all preserved ; and that no in- 
stance of a contrary nature had been dis- 
covered. The parental tenderness display- 
ed on this occasion, will be afterwards no- 
ticed more particularly in illustration of 
another topic. 

In the list, now mentioned, occur the 
names of several Rajahs, and of other fa- 
milies of respectability and distinction ; 
in the united influence of whose example 
and authority, we may regard some of the 
best securities for the entire extinction of 
the horrid practice of female infanticide. 

It will be recollected, that, among the 
means suggested for giving validity to the 
measure of abolition, one was to bestow 
presents on the more needy, and, therefore, 
more meritorious, of those, who had saved 
their daughters. The fines levied on those, 
who had violated their engagements, were 



HOW FAR EXPECTATION IS JUSTIFIED. 227 

to be appropriated to this use. — The se- 
cond accompaniment of the Resident's let- 
ter, already noticed, consists of a list of fa- 
milies, who had received such presents, of 
which the whole sum amounted to four- 
teen hundred rupees, forming part of the 
fine, inflicted upon the chief of Gondal, 
who has been mentioned as the first trans- 
gressor. 

The accounts, which have been trans- 
mitted to this country, since Colonel Wal- 
ker left India, and with copies of which, 
the writer of these pages has been favoured 
by the Honourable Court of Directors, are 
very general ; yet, so far as they go, satis- 
factory and gratifying. 

In the political letter from the Bombay 
Government of the 29th August 1810, is 
mentioned, with high satisfaction, " the 
prospect afforded of completely extirpating 
from the Peninsula of Guzerat, a custom 
that has been so long prevalent, to the dis- 
grace of humanity." It is added : " Lieu- 



228 FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GU£ERAT. 

tenant Colonel Walker's perseverance here* 
in, is entitled to our highest commenda- 
tion." 

It will be gratifying to the reader to see 
the opinion of the government at home, 
formed from the whole evidence before them, 
on this important subject. It is contained 
in their political letter of the 26th October 
of the same year. Referring to the va- 
rious papers transmitted on the subject, 
they add : " Wherein we find, that the ar- 
rangements adopted by Lieutenant Colonel 
Walker, for the prevention of this barba- 
rous custom, have been attended with suc- 
cess, and that the reform, in the habits of the 
people, among whom the practice obtained, 
had completely taken root, and that natural 
affection, and parental feelings, had so far 
begun to take place of prejudice, and su- 
perstition, as to leave no doubt of the aboli- 
tion of this inhuman practice, being finally ef- 
fected; and we cheerfully acknowledge Lieu- 
tenant Colonel Walker's merits in having 



HOW FAR EXPECTATION IS JUSTIFIED. 229 

so successfully exerted himself in the ge- 
neral interests of humanity." 

The last official letter from Bombay, in 
which the subject is mentioned, speaks of 
it in general terms, expressing satisfaction 
at what has been done, promising vigilance 
in carrying the measure of abolition into 
effect, and promising the continuance of 
their exertions in Kutch. 

Upon the whole it would appear, that the 
Bombay Government consider " the re- 
form, as having completely taken root," 
and that, instead of the unremitting vigi- 
lance, at first necessary, a general watch- 
fulness is now sufficient. If this inference 
of their sentiments be fairly deduced from 
the papers, they have transmitted, they 
may be considered in some measure as jus- 
tified in holding them, not only from the 
success, which they know to have attended 
the measures adopted in Guzerat ; but also 
from the success of those of a similar na- 
ture in Benares. On the latter, Governor 



230 FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GUZERAT* 

Duncan remarks, f that, at the distance of 
twenty-two years from their adoption, " the 
acts of these Raj-Koomars have remained 
unsullied with such barbarous and unna- 
tural deeds." 

We trust that the same account may 
be given of the Jahrejahs. In the last 
communication, which adverts to the sub- 
ject, we are told, that the late President, 
Mr Duncan, "ever contemplated his suc- 
cess in Benares, as one of the happiest in- 
cidents in his life." It is natural that Co- 
lonel Walker should regard his labours in 
Guzerat, in the same light. It is not easy 
to conceive, not to speak of describing, the 
deep interest, with which he must watch 
over the progress of a measure, so dear to 
his heart. 

He has done what could be done. He 
has given effect to the abolition of infanti- 
cide, by legal enactment ; and all that is 

* In his letter to Fatteh Mahomed, 25th March, 

1811, 

4? 



HOW FAR EXPECTATION IS JUSTIFIED. 231 

now required, to secure every thing that 
the friend of humanity can desire, on this 
subject, is, merely to administer among the 
Jahrejahs, what they themselves have ac- 
knowledged and subscribed as law. The 
responsibility, therefore, rests wholly with 
the Bombay Government, and especially 
to them, with the local authorities in Gu~ 
zerat. 

Of the humane views and feelings of that 
particular Presidency, we have no reason 
to doubt. Every thing that has come to 
out* knowledge is highly to the praise of 
their enlightened philanthropy, in which, 
we know, that they are warmly supported 
by the government at home. We look to 
them with hope — we look to them with 
confidence :« — but still we would repeat, that 
mankind will hold them responsible for the 
administration of the laws enacted and in 
operation, for the entire extirpation from 
Guzerat of the horrible crime of female in- 
fanticide. All that is required of them 
is vigilance, with the wise and firm admini- 



2Sf FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GUZERAT* 

stration of a law, which the objects of it 
themselves have acknowledged to be just, 
and to be founded in nature, and reason, 
and religion. 

These remarks do not originate in suspi- 
cion, and far less are they intended to in- 
dicate reproach ; but they are suggested 
by a deep anxiety, that the tone of natural 
and moral feeling, already produced, should 
be maintained, not only as a blessing in it- 
self, but also as the preparative for still more 
extensive benefits* 



CHAPTER THIRTEENTH. 

Effects of the Abolition of Infanticide, in humani- 
zing the general Character of the Jahrejahs — 
Anecdotes illustrative of this Fact — Prospects 
afforded. 

The return of parental tenderness to the 
bosom, where it had formerly been sup- 
pressed, must obviously involve a great 
melioration of general character. In a let- 
ter of the Directors at home to the Bom- 
bay Government, this is stated, in regard to 
the Jahrejahs, not as an inference founded 
in probability, but as a fact resting on in- 
disputable evidence. In the political let- 
ter,* already quoted, the Honourable Court 



* Dated 26th October, 1810, 



234} FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GUZERAT. 

having observed, that the arrangements 
made by Colonel Walker, " for the preven- 
tion of this barbarous custom, have been at- 
tended with success," they add, " and that 
the reform in the habits of the people, 
among whom the practice obtained, had 
completely taken root, and that natural af- 
fection and parental feelings had so far be- 
gun to take place of prejudice and super- 
stition, as to leave no doubt of the abolition 
of this inhuman practice." 

The conclusion contained in this passage 
is valuable, on account of the respectable 
source whence it proceeds, and the official 
documents, on which it is founded. We 
are warranted, therefore, in assuming it as 
a fact, that the abolition of female infanti- 
cide has been, as it was natural to expect, 
the cause of a general melioration in the 
feelings and habits of the Jahrejahs. 

This conclusion, however, is obviously to 
be understood generally, and not as a rule 
without exceptions. In the most polished 
country on earth will be found men of rude 



4 



EFFECTS OF THE ABOLITION, &C. 235 

and uncultivated habits ; and where moral 
and religious principles have attained the 
greatest purity, and been most generally- 
extended, individuals will be found on whom 
they have no influence, — " who neither 
fear God nor regard man." Hence it is, 
that even in Britain, instances of child- 
murder occur; and till much more has been 
done for India, than has yet been attempt- 
ed, we cannot expect its inhabitants to 
equal those of our own country. That the 
fact already stated, however, is generally 
true, will be regarded by the friend of hu- 
manity, as highly gratifying in itself, and 
fraught with encouragement to exert him- 
self in the extension to them of other be- 
nefits. 

With the fact of the general humaniza- 
tion of character, produced by the abolition 
of infanticide, we are to connect another, 
also, of a most promising and auspicious 
nature ; and that is, the currency of general 
sentiment, which will naturally flow in fa- 
vour of the English. The gratitude ex- 



236 FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GUZERATV 

cited immediately towards Colonel Walker 
will extend, though more faintly, to the 
government, by whom he was employed ; 
and, in proportion as the natives find the 
servants of that government, actuated by a 
disinterested zeal for their good, these sen- 
timents will become more general and in- 
tense, and extend to the British as a nation. 
In illustration of what has now been stated, 
we may notice one or two incidents, which, 
it is presumed, will not be perused without 
interest. 

The scene at Dherole has been already 
described in the language, which the un- 
obtrusive modesty of the Resident permit- 
ted him to use. The female infants, who 
had been preserved in that neighbourhood 
by his wise and philanthropic exertions, 
were presented to him at his tent by their 
parents, who now, he says, " gloried in their 
preservation, and doated on them with 
fondness." What heart could be unmoved, 
at such a scene, even as described in the 
unambitious language here adopted ! and 



EFFECTS OF THE ABOLITION, &C. 287 

where shall we imagine, on earth, such ex- 
quisite, unmingled, overwhelming delight, 
as must then have filled his own philan- 
thropic bosom ! — But there were heighten- 
ing: circumstances in the scene, for our 
knowledge of which, we are indebted to 
another source. 

Being merely on a halt at Dherole, on 
his way to Baroda, economy of time, and 
not ostentation, suggested the expediency 
of having the children, whom he had been 
the happy instrument of saving, brought to 
his tent. The knowledge of the fact, of 
course, acquired publicity, and collected to 
this interesting spectacle, such English of- 
ficers and gentlemen as were then in the 
neighbourhood. An approximation may be 
made by imagination to what followed, but 
it is beyond the power of description. To 
say, that parents, accustomed to murder 
their female infants without compunction, 
at their birth, now " gloried in their pre- 
servation, and doated on them with fond- 
ness," is still an inadequate account of the 



238 FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GUZERAT. 

actual scene. The rapturous bursts of pa- 
rental feeling and tenderness, the trans- 
ports of maternal affection for the little 
babes, torn as it were from the jaws of 
death, acquiring immeasurable excitement 
from seeing, now, for the first time, the 
person, who had conferred on them so 
many benefits, constituted altogether some- 
thing truly grand and affecting. Over- 
come with affection and gratitude, the 
mothers brought forward their children, 
and placing them in Colonel Walker's 
hands, called them his children, for, that to 
him they owed their existence, and invo- 
ked Heaven and him to protect them. 

Another touching little incident men- 
tioned by a respectable private correspon- 
dent in India, should not be omitted in this 
place. It is shortly this : The female chil- 
dren of some families, were taught, as the 
first articulate sounds they uttered, to say, 
" Colonel Walker saved me." % 

* In the native language : " Baker Saheb umneh 
Jeewaria." 



EFFECTS OF THE ABOLITION, &C. 239 

These authentic and incontrovertible 
facts are here introduced, not for the pur- 
pose of affecting the ever-throbbing pulse 
of morbid sensibility ; but for that of stimu- 
lating the moral enterprise of the true and 
practical friends of mankind ; as well as for 
laying a solid foundation for particular in-^ 
ferences, in regard of the innumerable in- 
habitants of Hindustan. To speak of the 
people of those vast regions, as justly cha- 
racterised by the people of a limited dis- 
trict, may be objected to, as unfair and in- 
conclusive. A case might occur, in which 
the objection were tenable ; but instead of 
being so, in the present instance, the sober 
and reflecting mind will clearly perceive, 
that its tendency is exactly in the opposite 
direction. All that is generally distinctive 
of the Hindu character, is to be found in 
the Jahrejah. But this is not all : What- 
ever of intractable, arising from moral or 
physical causes, that is to be found in the 
inhabitants of that region, exhibits a pecu- 
liar prominency in the character of this 



240 FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GUZERAT. 

race. Their pride, and exaggerated ideas 
of their own dignity and importance, were 
early noticed, and in the course of the nar- 
rative, have received sufficient illustration. 
These notions, again, have been peculiar- 
ly cherished, by the physical aspect of their 
country. Besides that it holds out few 
temptations to foreign cupidity and con- 
quest ; it affords, by its mountains, ra- 
vines, and fastnesses, uncommon facilities 
of defence, retreat, and concealment, and is 
in every way calculated to inspire and sus- 
tain the spirit of daring, of turbulence, and 
of ferocity. From these facts, which every 
one at all acquainted with the subject, 
knows to be indisputable, we desire to draw 
no other inference than this: that the 
whole race of Hindus may be regarded as 
at least equally tractable with the Jahre- 
jahs, and that the means, which have been 
found able to move and meliorate them, 
will be found equally so, when applied to 
any of the other inhabitants of Hindustan. 
Now it is not intended, at present, to 



EFFECTS OF THE ABOLITION, &C. 241 

apply the inference deduced, to all the 
cases to which it is applicable, but chiefly 
to notice, in a general way, the effect of 
disinterested generosity, on the minds of 
this people. Gratitude could not be more 
marked, than that which has now been no- 
ticed. The name of Colonel Walker, it is 
apparent, will never be forgotten in Guze- 
rat. That name, lisped in the days of in- 
fancy, and the tale of individual preserva- 
tion, associated with the earliest recollec- 
tions, will, be repeated, and taught, and 
transmitted, with maternal fondness and 
gratitude, from generation to generation. 
It was computed, that, previously to the 
abolition, five thousand, annually, were the 
victims of infanticide. What numbers to 
celebrate the aera of female preservation 
among the Jahrejahs, and perpetuate the 
name of their preserver ! 

Let the scene at Dherole testify the sus- 
ceptibility of the Jahrejahs to gratitude. 
Hitherto they had been unaccustomed to 
kindness. Rapacity, oppression, and in- 

Q 



240 FEMALE INFANTICIDE IN GU'ZERA'T. 

suit, had characterised the acts of their suc- 
cessive masters ; and if they expected any 
change, it was only in the measure and the; 
mode of the iniquity, of which they were 
the objects. Till lately, also, the name of 
England could be associated with few plea- 
surable emotions, by the native inhabitants 
of British India. 

From the more generous measures, how- 
ever, of recent years, from the more fair 
arid prompt administration of justice and 
redress of grievances, and from the many 
salutary and benevolent regulations, intro- 
duced by the Company's Government, our 
native subjects of Hindustan have already 
begun to view Englishmen with a more 
favourable eye* The mildness and equity 
of British measures in that quarter, we 
have reason also to trust, are only in pro- 
gress. There is no doubt, that the in- 
terests of humanity and the Company's 
Government will be, at the same time, 
subserved by such procedure ; and especial- 
ly by the gradual extension to the natives 



EFFECTS OF THE ABOLITION, &C. 248 

of a certain share of subordinate confidence 
and official favour. And it is with much 
pleasure, that we announce it as a fact, that 
such a measure, is, at this moment, in the 
contemplation of the Court of Directors ; 
arid that investigations are making, and 
the opinions of those best able to judge are 
in requisition, relative to the policy and 
probable consequences of so doing. 

By entrusting a certain minor depart- 
ment in each Kutchery, or Court of Justice, 
to native judges, from whose decisions there 
may always be an appeal, very many ad- 
vantages will follow. The redress of griev- 
ances will be always more speedy, and often 
more equitable. Several causes may be 
satisfactorily adjusted in the time occupied 
by one, in present circumstances, when the 
judge, little acquainted with the customs, 
and as little with the language of the na- 
tives, must often decide upon conjecture, 
as well as conduct the whole proceedings, 
through the medium of an interpreter. 

By the proposed measure, much time 



%M FEMALES INFANTICIDE EN GUZERAT. 

would be saved for other business, to men 
in high official situations. The natives thus 
intrusted, and thus honoured, would feel a 
new principle of attachment to the Com- 
pany's Government, of which the influence 
would gradually pervade the mass of the 
population, English power would in some 
measure take root in the affections of the 
people, and facilities be thus afforded for 
schemes of still more extensive meliora- 
tion* 

Let it never be forgotten, then, that our 
success, in bending to our purposes, the 
millions of India, will depend upon the dis- 
interested principles of our procedure, more 
than upon any other cause. The suspicions 
of the natives, and their prejudices against 
us, are already diminishing. Let philan- 
thropic views be united to those of a wise, 
liberal, and enlightened policy ; let Colonel 
Walker's success in Guzerat be generally 
followed up, with the same generous, per- 
severing, and indefatigable efforts., and the 



EFFECTS OF THE ABOLITION, &C* 245 

prospect before us will become bright and 
boundless. 

There is one comprehensive blessing, 
however, which some gravely tell us, the 
Hindus are incapable, and ever will con- 
tinue incapable, of receiving. The reader 
will be aware, that the Christian religion is 
here meant. A fair and temperate con- 
sideration of this question, which has, of 
late, been so much agitated, will complete 
the plan of this volume. It is not intend- 
ed, however, to discuss every topic, which 
has been, or could be, introduced on the 
subject ; but chiefly to apply to it the lead- 
ing facts in the preceding narrative, in con- 
nection with others of an analogous nature, 
which, it is presumed, the candid mind will 
consider to be decisive of. the question, 



CHAPTER FOURTEENTH. 

The Question of promoting Christianity in India, 
illustrated from the Facts of the preceding Nar- 
rative, and others that bear upon it 

T he details of authentic history may be 
regarded in the same light as facts in ex- 
perimental philosophy. The science of 
physics, in its different departments, lays 
open to us, what had formerly remained 
the mysteries of nature, subjects them to 
our scrutiny, and constitutes them the in- 
struments of extending our discoveries. 
The science of mind, it is true, has not at- 
tained, and may probably never attain, to 
that species of evidence, called demonstra- 
tion, of which the properties of material 



PROMOTION OF THE GOSPEL IN INDIA. 247 

substances are susceptible; yet, of late 
years, it has certainly made great advances,, 
and has not meaply rewarded, nor feebly 
stimulated, philosophic pursuit. 

Whatever opinions may be formed, how- 
ever, with regard to the recondite subjects 
of metaphysics, it will be acknowledged, 
that the active powers of man, regarded as 
a being, capable of being impelled, or de- 
terred, by adequate motives, are the ob- 
jects of no doubtful science. Similar com- 
binations of circumstances having produced 
similar results, we have reason to expect 
corresponding results, from the same given 
circumstances. All that is necessary to 
the fairness of this conclusion is, the ad- 
mission, that human nature is every where, 
and at all times, essentially the same, but 
capable of being infinitely modified, in its 
aspects, by the circumstances, in which it 
is placed. 

Now, this is a fact, which, in this age of 
the world, and in the present state of sci- 
ence ? we should not be required to prove. 



X 

I 

248 PROMOTION OF THE GOSPEL IN INDIA. 

Yet the negative of it seems to be pal- 
pably involved in the sentiments of those 
men, who make it a question, whether 
Christianity can be diffused among the na- 
tives of India. For any doubt on this sub- 
ject, certainly suggests the query, " Are 
the Hindus human beings ?" 

By those who need the solution of this 
question, it will be found in the preceding 
pages. And in a work, touching so directly 
on the master-springs of Hindu action, and 
exhibiting the mode of their operation ; it 
will naturally be expected, that something 
should be said on a subject of such vast im- 
portance, and, at present, of such deep and 
general interest, as that of promoting the 
Gospel among the millions of India. 

In stating a few thoughts on the subject, 
it is the writer's desire to maintain the 
candour and composure, which become so 
righteous a cause ; leaving anger to those 
who have failed in argument, and abuse to 
those who have been foiled of every other 
weapon. Those who, without enquiry, are 



PROMOTION OF THE GOSPEL IN INDIA. 249 

contented to be implicitly led by the pre- 
judices of a party, and to condemn, where 
they do not understand, the author hopes 
not to convince ; but — although he does 
not enter very minutely into the subject, 
and leaves many topics entirely untouched, 
— his expectations are very different with 
regard to those, who are willing to find, and 
to follow truth. 

Where facts, rather than argumentation, 
are concerned, neither anticipation nor re- 
petition, can be always avoided. Whilst 
this point, however, does not seem to merit 
much solicitude, the subject will, generally 
speaking, be unfolded in the following or- 
der. First will be considered the pretend- 
ed immutability of the character and cus- 
toms of the Hindus ; and the alleged danger 
of attempting to communicate the Gospel 
to them will next claim our attention* 
We shall then advert, in order, to the 
encouragements afforded to Christians to 
make the attempt, and their duty to do so ; 
and, lastly, to the manner and spirit, in 



2$0 PROMOTION OF THE GOSPEL IN INDIA. 

which the attempt should be made and per- 
severed in, till it be crowned with complete 
success. 

> 



SECTION FIRST. 

Considerations- on the pretended Immutability of the 
Character and Customs of the Hindus, and other 
associated topics. 

The impossibility, or, which is the same 
thing, the impracticability of evangelizing 
India, whatever ignorance pf hunian na- 
ture, and of other subjects, it may involve, 
is yet the most decent form, in which the 
negative of the question c^n be asserted 
before 3, Christian nation. There was, 
however, a previous question, which some 
men did not think shame to ask, and which 
is even yet occasionally whispered. The 
question is this : — " Do the Hindus need 
Christianity ? And would they be the bet- 
ter and happier, if they were actually, at 



CUSTOMS SAID TO BE .IMMUTABLE. 251 

this moment, Christians?" — Without seem- 
ing to be in jest, and without having pro- 
fessed their own renunciation of Christi- 
anity, some have told us, that they would 
be neither better nor happier. Nay, a man 
there was found, hardy enough to declare, 
before a British House of Commons, that, 
" indeed, the Hindus stood already higher 
than ourselves in respect to general cha- 
racter." 

Without stopping to notice how the va- 
lue of any man's opinions, or knowledge of 
the subject, must be affected, by such an 
assertion, it is obvious, that the declaration 
draws after it a very comprehensive sus- 
picion, and unavoidably prompts the en- 
quiry, " is, or is not Christianity a good 
thing ?" — It is a fact, whatever surprise it 
may excite in those, if there be any, to 
whom it is new, that men professing them- 
selves to be Christians, have answered thus: 
We admit Christianity to be a good thing ; 
but so, we affirm, is also the religion of the 
Hindus : it breathes a spirit of gentleness 



PROMOTION OF THE GOSPEL IN INDIA. 

t 

and humanity, of benignity and benevo- 
lence ; and every attempt at interference, 
on the subject, with the natives of Hin- 
dustan, would be to injure the happiness of 
that simple, happy, and innocent people, 
as well as to attempt what never could be 
accomplished. 

Had this been reported to us as the lan- 
guage of an Indian Brahmin, as he unrolled 
his Shasters, we should have regarded it as 
precisely what was to be expected. But it 
has been held, not by Brahmins, but by 
Britons, and British legislators. We have 
heard it, on the same day, that we have 
shuddered at the recital of female immola- 
tions, and the doctrine of meritorious sui- 
cide, of human sacrifices, the horrid crime 
of infanticide, and the blood and the abomi- 
nations of Juggernauth. 

The import of such language is suf- 
ficiently unequivocal, and forcibly reminds 
us of the mode, in which the deistical con- 
troversy, as it has been named, was eon- 
ducted in this country, a century ago. The 



CUSTOMS SAID TO BE IMMUTABLE. 25S 

assailants of Christianity, in those times, 
were the unintentional causes, that there 
were erected, in honour of it, so many 
splendid and durable monuments to the 
genius, learning, T and talents of its votaries. 
The attack was not open and avowed. Not 
a few compliments were paid to the religion 
of Jesus, even by those, whose hostility to 
it was the most rancorous. Besides the 
necessity they might see, for going thus 
far, in the presence of a people, professing 
Christianity, they perceived it needful, al- 
so, for the credit of their own understand- 
ings. The religion of Bacon and Boyle, of 
Newton and Locke, and of the wise and 
good of all ages, since its first promulga- 
tion, must be treated with some marks of 
decent respect. As in the case of its di- 
vine Founder, therefore, it was thought 
advisable to " betray it with a kiss." 

That system, whose germ was deposited 
in the ungenial soil of Judea, which sent 
forth its stem, its leaves, and its blossoms, 
amid the blighting and cankering influence 



254* PROMOTION OF THE GOSPEL IN INDIA. 

of Jewish malignity, and heathen hostility ; 
which, in short, had now spread its branches 
wide over the earth, and had been gather- 
ing strength, and increasing in fruit, amid 
the blasts of continuous ages ; was not to 
be rashly and unceremoniously assailed. 
Hence the expressions of respect for it, 
which accompanied the attacks on Christi- 
anity, in those times. 

Its assailants then, however, were, ge- 
nerally speaking, men of considerable ta- 
lents and learning, and, (which was not less 
necessary,) they possessed a good deal of 
measured prudence. Yet, as every one, 
who was a Christian, not in name and pro- 
fession only, but in heart and principle, 
was then confident, and, in regard of all si- 
milar attempts, will ever be confident, they 
failed. Whether so much can be said for 
the talents, and learning, and prudence of 
those who now advocate the cause of Hin- 
duism at the expense of Christianity, it is 
left for the reader to decide. 

But however we might be disposed to re- 



CUSTOMS SAID TO BE IMMUTABLE. 255 

gard, in other respects, the men who op- 
pose the promotion of Christianity in India, 
there was one thing, which compelled and 
chained down our attention. This was 
their declared willingness to rest the merits 
of their cause, on the " local knowledge," 
which they should advance. This was a 
matter, of which candour demanded the 
fair and impartial consideration — and it has 
received it. That local knowledge, of which 
the value and the weight were so mightily 
vaunted, has been duly appreciated. The 
proposition to be proved by it, may be com- 
prehensively enounced in these words : — 
" The character and customs of the Hin- 
dus are immutable/' The subject was dis- 
cussed throughout the nation. One pamph- 
let after another saw the light, and expired. 
The matter, at length, engaged the atten- 
tion of the legislature ; and a mass of evi- 
dence was laid on the tables of the British 
Parliament, and there received the con- 
sideration, which its unspeakable import- 
ance demanded. 



2£6 Promotion of the gospel in India. 

The world knows the result. The local 
knowledge, with which the cause of Chris- 
tianity in India was menaced, proved the 
most harmless thing, that ever was the off- 
spring of a threat. Nay, not only was it 
perfectly innoxious in itself ; but it was the 
mean of bringing forward other counteract- 
ing " local knowledge," by which itself 
was proved to be pre-eminent ignorance. 
No reader, it is presumed, will deem this 
language harsh, when he recollects, that a 
gentleman, who had spent thirty years of 
his life in India, during thirteen of which, 
he had a seat in the supreme Council of 
Bengal, actually declared, at the bar of the 
House of Commons, that he had never 
heard of the existence of a single native 
Christian, in India ; and that it was not till 
his return to Britain, that he became ac- 
quainted with the fact. Now all this from 
such a man, in connection with our having 
known so long, in this country, that there 
are many hundreds of thousands of native 



CUSTOMS SAID TO BE IMMUTABLE. 251 

Christians in India, must greatly diminish 
our respect for " local knowledge." 

The distinguished knowledge of the sub- 
ject, displayed on that occasion, by those 
who supported the diffusion of Christianity 
in India, forms a striking contrast to that 
of their opponents. The discussion is now 
before the British public, and every good 
man must wish it widely circulated. 

He, whose name will be for ever blessed 
by the swarthy sons of Africa, acted, on 
this occasion, a part, worthy of himself ; 
and that is a part, which common epithets 
cannot adequately characterise. His ex* 
tensive and accurate knowledge of the sub- 
ject, equalled the ardour of his zeal, and 
the resplendent eloquence, with which it 
was adorned. Although he has never 
breathed the air of India, where is the man, 
by whom he was surpassed, in w r hat may 
be properly termed local knowledge ? And 
by whom were facts ever carried home to 
their legitimate conclusion, more directly*, 

R 



$58 PROMOTION OF THE GOSPEL IN INDIA. 

irresistibly, and triumphantly, than by Mr 
Wilberforce, on that occasion ? 

In support of the mutability of the cus- 
toms of the Hindus, and, therefore, the 
practicability of evangelizing India, he re- 
ferred to the labours of Colonel Walker, 
in the abolition of female infanticide, with 
the consciousness of having advanced an 
argument, in the form of a fact, which pre- 
cluded the possibility of an answer. — " I 
will adduce," said he, " another instance, 
to show, that the honourable Baronet," (Sir 
Henry Montgomery,) " is not correct when 
he represents the prejudices of the Hindus as 
invincible. When Colonel Walker told the 
Jahrejah chief, that the practice of female 
infanticide, which prevailed among them, 
was inhuman, and recommended its aboli- 
tion, he was answered, that the practice 
had been established in India for 4900 
years ; that it had been sanctioned by all 
their great kings ; that it had never been 
objected to before; and that the King of 
the world himself had approved of it. Co- 



-CUSTOMS SAID TO BE IMMUTABLE. 25S 

lonel Walker, however, was not to be dis- 
couraged. He steadily pursued his object, 
by informing the minds, and removing the 
prejudices of the people. The result was, 
that, within a year, the same chief, who 
held the above language, together with all 
the other chiefs, came to a resolution, that 
female infanticide should no longer be prac- 
ticed ; and, from that time, it has ceased in 
this district." 

In regard of material facts, the reader 
knows the above statement to be correct, 
and will perceive the conclusion to be irre- 
sistible, that the prejudices of the Hindus 
are not invincible. Were any exception 
taken to our reasoning from the inhabi- 
tants of a single province, to those of the 
immeasurable regions of Hindustan ; we re- 
fer to the preceding Chapter, by which it 
will appear, that the conclusion is strength- 
ened by the argument a fortiori.* The pre- 
sent question, however, regards all the Hin- 
dus, as they resemble one another in a single 

* See p, 239, 



260 PROMOTION OF THE GOSPEL IN INDIA. 

point ; namely, their attachment to the 
Brahminical superstition. At all events, 
therefore, it will follow legitimately, that, 
in so far as the arguments will apply to the 
inhabitants of any district, they will apply 
to all ; since the prejudice to be removed 
is common to them all. 

Now, of the customs of the Hindus, there 
is none that threatened more to be invin- 
cible, than that of female infanticide. The 
practice was so ancient, as to be involved 
in the almost impervious mists of fable. 
Consecrated by the veneration, inspired by 
antiquity, the savage custom found mighty 
co-adjutors in the mean and mercenary 
motives of selfishness. How firmly the ap- 
parently invincible prejudice, (if it may be 
called by so gentle a name,) was rooted, 
appears from the resistance made to its 
abandonment. The Jahrejahs had submit- 
ted to British arms, and British influence. 
They were actually paying tribute to Bri- 
tons t and to the correction and amend- 
ment of Britons, their system of finance 

5 



CUSTOMS SAID TO BE IMMUTABLE. 261 

had been subjected In short, the tenure 
of their lands, the administration of their 
laws, and many things of vital importance 
to their system, had been changed, and are 
now changing. All this, too, went on 
quietly and submissively. But, when the 
proposition to abandon female infanticide 
was made, this people, so compliant in ge- 
neral, immediately assumed a tone of firm- 
ness and decision ; and, without the least 
hesitation, told Colonel Walker, that the 
practice never could, and never would, be 
abandoned. — Not only, however, has the 
happy change been effected ; but it has 
been effected in a way, that has endeared 
the name of Britain to the people, and will 
cause that of Colonel Walker to live among 
them for ever. 

This fact is valuable, precisely on ac- 
count of the inveteracy, and apparent in- 
vincibility in which it seemed to be en- 
trenched; and which, — let it be remem- 
bered — were never exhibited, in any other 
case. Now we maintain, that one such 



£62 PROMOTION OF THE GOSPEL IN INDIA. 

fact is equal to a thousand in deciding the 
question of immutability, on which, weak as 
it is, rests the whole of that regarding the 
practicability of evangelizing India. Had 
those, who still so unaccountably tell us of 
the immutability of the customs and the 
creed of the Hindus, been required, in the 
beginning of 1807, to prove their position 
by a case, we have no doubt, that they 
would have triumphantly pointed to the 
practice of infanticide. And, supposing 
them in possession of the sentiments of 
the natives in addition to any sagacity of 
their own ; we cannot imagine them to have 
fixed upon a case more propitious to their 
cause. — Let us hear no more, therefore, of 
the immutability and invincibility of any 
thing, that is Hindu, or of any thing, that 
is human. The Medes and Persians once 
boasted that their <? laws alter not ;" but 
thousands of years have now elapsed, since 
the saying has been enrolled among the 
memorials of human extravagance an$ 
folly* 



CUSTOMS SAID TO BE IMMUTABLE. 26$ 

In support of the present argument, 
we have more than the mere sentiments of 
that liberal and enlightened Governor Ge- 
neral of India, the Marquis of Wellesley: 
— we have his acts. — The public are ac- 
quainted with that distinguished act of his 
government, by which the sacrifice of chil- 
dren to the Ganges was prevented " at 
Saugur and other places." It was ascer- 
tained, that, during the month of January, 
1801, no less than twenty-three children 
had been sacrificed at Saugur alone, by 
drowning, or exposure to sharks and croco- 
diles, in consequence of the vows of their 
parents. His Lordship listened with pa- 
tient attention to all that could be advan- 
ced in favour of the practice, and concern- 
ing the danger of interference, and his de- 
liberations on all the difficulties and perils 
of the case issued in an enactment, " de- 
claring the practice to be murder, punish- 
able by death."* Now, what followed ? — 

* The title is, " A regulation for preventing the sa- 
crifice of children at Saugur, and other places : passed 



264* PROMOTION OF THE GOSPEL IN INDIA. 

What commotions — what rebellions en- 
sued ? — How long did our Eastern empire 
survive the shock, thus rudely given to the 
immutable and invincible customs of the 
Hindus, in a point so vital? — Not a murmur 
was ever heard. — Not a whisper of discon- 
tent was ever breathed. — And what is more 
and better, not a single repetition of the 
barbarous rite has ever since been known ? 
or surmised. 

Here, then, is the abolition of another 
practice, by which an incalculable number 
of lives is saved ; and, what is worthy of 
special notice, is, that the custom was, 
strictly speaking, a religious observance. 
Now, it is to be remembered, that we are 
not to regard the relinquishment of any 
one of their practices, as a separate and in- 
sulated fact, leaving all the rest entire. 
To take a very homely, because plain si- 
militude : the abolition of these practices 
does not resemble the pulling down of two 

by the Governor General in Council on the 20th pf 
August 1802;' 



V 



CUSTOMS SAID TO BE IMMUTABLE. 265 

or three houses in a village, a thing, which 
cannot affect the stability of those which 
remain : — it resembles as many practicable 
breaches, made at the most impregnable 
points of a garrison, which render us mas- 
ters of the whole. 

- With the nature of Dhurtia, Tragga, and 
Bhat security, the reader is already ac- 
quainted ; and has already shuddered at the 
tale of horror, which first brought to Co- 
lonel Walker's notice, in Guzerat, thje fre- 
quent and dreadful consequence of these 
kindred practices. The fact of its aboli- 
tion, also, by that gentleman, has been no- 
ticed. # Now, this custom appears to have 
connected, and even identified itself with 
their notions of the administration of jus- 
tice. 

Are we now told, that although the in- 
vincibility of Hindu customs, in regard of 
domestic and civil life, must be abandoned; 
yet the position is tenable, in regard of re- 
ligious institutions ? First of all,, we answer^ 

* See p. 61—64, 



266 PROMOTION OF THE GOSPEL IN INDIA, 

that the sacrifice of children to the Ganges 
was strictly a religious rite ; and we must 
next add, that all the civil, domestic, and 
religious customs of the Hindus, are inse- 
parably blended together ; and that, there- 
fore, there is not one of their institutions 
but may, with propriety, be termed reli- 
gious. 

But to come to the single and exclusive 
point of religion, where shall we find greater 
fluctuation and change, than among the 
Hindus? — Where shall there be pointed out 
to us greater diversity of religious sects, 
and opinions, than among that people ? Of 
these sects, not a few have been alluded 
to in the course of the preceding narrative. 
The Shravuck Banians, or disciples cff Jena, 
a numerous sect in Guzerat, have been no- 
ticed, with some particularity. They are 
distinguished by the doctrine of metempsy- 
chosis, and the many singularities, which 
it involves.* In speaking of Jahrejah Mo- 



* See p. 88, 89. 



CUSTOMS SAID TO BE IMMUTABLE. 26? 

kajee of Anundgur, we had occasion to ad- 
vert to the followers of Kubeer, whose doc- 
trines nearly coincide with those of Deism.* 
It is to be remarked, also, that the adop- 
tion of his new creed subjected Mokajee 
to no suffering. Nay, his friends continued 
to watch over his interests, with kindly so- 
licitude ; and no attempt was made to in- 
duce him to change his opinions. 

There is a sect of Brahmins, called Kur- 
rada, inhabiting the Cokan, whose tenets 
and principles are as opposite, as extremes 
can be, to some of those already mentioned; 
and to what is commonly asserted of the 
Hindu religion, in general. To Colonel 
Walker we are indebted for a particular ac- 
count of them.f 

" The object of their worship," says he, 
M is Maha Lackshmi, to whom human sa- 
crifices are acceptable, and the more so if 
the victim be a Brahmin, learned in the 

* See p. 90. 

-|- In the Postscript and Notes to his Report of 
March 15. 1808. 



§6$ PROMOTION OF THE GOSPEL IN INDIA. 

Shasters. The public performance of this 
sacrifice has, long since fallen into disuse ; 
but a sect of the Kurrada Brahmins are ac- 
cused of effecting, by the secret operation 
of poison, that object, which they dare not 
publicly avow." # 

After writing the above passage, the Re- 
sident collected a number of memoranda, 
relative to the practices of this sect, 
" which," he says, " would seem clearly to 
establish, that they have been, and probably 
are now, addicted to a superstitious idea, 
that the goddess is to be propitiated by the 
destruction of a human life. — They are sup- 
posed to be under the influence of Vishara 
Boot, or the spirit of poison. In order to 
appease] the wrath of this wicked demon, 
they administer poison to their guests and 
friends. By this means the spirit is grati- 
fied, and, in return, extends her protection 
to them." — A little after, the Resident, who 
was personally acquainted with some of 

* P. S. par. 9—11, 



CUSTOMS SAID TO BE IMMUTABLE. 26B 

them, says : — " there can be little doubt 9 
but that formerly, this sect indulged their 
prejudices, in this respect, to a considerable 
extent, though," — and let the reader mark 
the important words, — " though now, like 
many other customs of the Hindus, the obser- 
vance of this" (practice) 66 has, from various 
causes, relaxed"* 

The following anecdote, in illustration of 
the savage and shocking practices of this 
sect, is too important to be omitted. It 
rests on the authority of " several people," 
by whom it was communicated to Colonel 
Walker. 

" It is related that the wife of a certain 
Kurrada Brahmin made a vow to her god, 
that, provided she obtained a particular end, 
she would gratify him by a human sacri- 
fice." Having obtained her object, it was 
necessary that she should find a victim ; but 
the secrecy and danger attending it, obligee^ 
her to select the object from her own family, 

t Note to par, 10. of P. S. to Report, 



270 PROMOTION OF THE GOSPEL IN INfilA^ 

" The victim, she selected for this pur* 
pose, was the destined husband of her in- 
fant daughter. The design was known 
only to this child, who was entrusted with 
the fatal secret, for the reason that appears 
in the sequel. According to custom, the 
young bridegroom was invited to partake of 
the nuptial feast, at his father-in-law's house. 
This was the occasion, on which the wo- 
man had fixed, for administering the poison. 
Every thing was prepared, and the drug 
mixed with the portion of food, intended 
for the boy ; and, according to the Hindu 
custom, put apart. The portions of the 
two children were close together ; and the 
mother is said to have entrusted her daugh- 
ter with the secret, to prevent mistake, and 
to lead him to his particular share. — The 
child, however, terrified at the prospect of 
misfortune, and her future misery, wilfully 
guided her young husband to another por- 
tion, and saved his life, but at the expence 
of her father's. The mother observed the 
conduct of her daughter; but she was com- 



CUSTOMS SAID TO BE IMMUTABLE. 271 

pelled to remain silent; and, the rest of 
the guests sitting down indiscriminately to 
their victuals, the fatal portion fell to the 
lot of her own husband." 

Does not this anecdote render it pro- 
bable, that there are many abominations of 
a similar nature, of which we have never 
heard ; and that, black as is the authenti- 
cated catalogue of their enormities, the ex- 
tent of them at least is unknown ? 

We are told farther, that " the term 
Kurrada is derived from a village, or a tract 
of country in the Cokan, and comprehends 
a numerous tribe, who are divided into se- 
veral sects, or classes and subdivisions." — 
The account of this sect is introduced by 
a very remarkable and very important pas- 
sage. 

* Mr Bryant," says Colonel Walker, 
w. does not appear to be aware of the exist- 
ence of human sacrifices among the Hin- 
dus ; and it is melancholy to add to the list 
of human infirmities, by citing the transla- 
tion of the Rudhiradhyaya, from the Calica 



272 PROMOTION OF THE GOSPEL IN INDIA*' 

Puran by Mr Blaquiere, as an evidence of 
this barbarous rite being sanctioned by the 
Hindu legislature. It was not only enjoin- 
ed, but, in the ancient rites of the Hindus, 
was frequently practised, under the deno- 
mination of Ner-Med, or Wud, — the sa- 
crifice of a man."* 

Now, let the proper use be made of these 
facts, and let the conclusions, to which they 
legitimately lead, be honestly deduced. The 
shocking characters of the superstition, no 
man can deny, who is not shamefully igno- 
rant; and on this point, therefore, it is 
quite unnecessary to say one word. But 
to keep to the topic immediately before us, 
can any thing be more strikingly charac- 
terised by fluctuation and change, than the 
customs and the creed of the Hindus ? In 
the followers of Jena, on the one hand, and 
the Kurrada Brahmins, on the other, we 
have two extremes, each marked, in its dif- 
ferent way, by excesses beyond what would 



* P. S. to Report, par. 7, 5. 



CUSTOMS SAID TO BE IMMUTABLE. 278 

have occurred to the most fertile imagina- 
tion. In the one, we perceive men, parsi- 
monious of animal life, even to scrupulosity 
and absurdity. The Yati, or priest of the 
order, furnished with his " Raju-hurrun, 
or broom made of cotton threads," sweeps 
the ground lest he should unconsciously 
extinguish the life of an insect. In the 
Kurrada Brahmins, again, we perceive prin- 
ciples and practices, characterised by every 
thing horrible and revolting. To destroy, 
by poison, the unsuspecting guest, who, at 
their desire, comes to share their hospitali- 
ty, reposing on their affection and friend- 
ship, is surely carrying all that can be con- 
ceived of the bloody and the abominable to 
the last pitch of diabolical perfection. Let 
us, at the same time, note, with marked 
particularity, the grand characteristic of 
the Hindu religion, as a whole ; and that is, 
the practice of human sacrifice, as " sanc- 
tioned by their legislature." The conclu- 
sion, to which this fact leads, and a fact too 

resting on the authority of their ancient 

s 



/ 



214< PROMOTION OF THE GOSPEL IN INDIA. 

sacred books, is plainly and palpably this I 
That the Hindu religion, in so far as it has 
been preserved entire, identifies itself in 
the leading feature, with that of the Kur- 
rada Brahmins: — and, in so far as it has 
not been preserved entire, it is — certainly 
something else than immutable. Now, if 
it be very different from what we find it 
originally was, (which is the only legitimate 
conclusion,) it has, of course, undergone a 
great and radical change, and consequently 
prepared the way for changes still greater. 

It appears, then, that the character and 
customs of the Hindus have undergone great 
changes, and perhaps, in some respects, 
have been improved. Speaking of the 
bloody rites of the Kurrada Brahmins, Co- 
lonel Walker adds : " these superstitious 
practices must now be considered as declin- 
ing, or wholly abandoned, among the Hin- 
dus. They have followed the progress of 
civilization and humanity in India, as well 
as in Europe; and disappeared in both 
countries with the improvement of manners 



CUSTOMS SAID TO BE IMMUTABLE. 275 

and society." We know, that in this coun- 
try, it was the introduction of Christianity, 
that put an end to the bloody rites of Pa- 
ganism ; and that, to the blessed Reforma* 
tion, we are to ascribe the high state of ci- 
vilization and learning, which distinguishes 
the nations of Europe. And it is only by 
the operation of the same causes, that we 
can expect the extension of the same bles- 
sings to our fellow men and our fellow sub- 
jects in Hindustan. From all that we 
know of that people, they seem ripe for 
some great moral improvement. That they 
are changed, and are changing, we have 
the testimony of an accurate observer, of 
one who lived thirty years in the country, 
who actually made a great moral experi- 
ment upon the people, and that, too, upon 
a tribe, the most fierce, high-minded, and 
tenacious ; and in a case, also, in which 
they, and all who were acquainted with 
their characters and habits, affirmed, that 
every attempt to alter their practice, would 
prove fruitless and unavailing. 



276 PROMOTION OF THE GOSPEL IN INDIA. 

Of the causes of error concerning the 
character and customs of the Hindus, one, 
no doubt, is, that some, retaining the same 
impressions, which they had received many 
years ago, talk in the same way they did 
then, and for which, at that time, there was 
some appearance of reason, without advert- 
ing to the altered aspect of the subject, and 
the flood of light, which has recently been 
poured upon it. " Twenty years ago," — 
said Mr Wilberforce, in the House of Com- 
mons,- — "twenty years ago, we were ac- 
customed to hear even from such men as 
Sir William Jones, that no improvement, in 
the jurisprudence of India, could or would 
be made. But when we consider the great 
improvements, that have taken place, since 
that period, that the whole tenure of their 
lands has been altered, and that other 
changes, no less important, have been suc- 
cessfully attempted ; we must feel how er- 
roneous such opinions were, and must an- 
ticipate a similar result, as to the state-, 
ments of the present day." 



CUSTOMS SAID TO BE IMMUTABLE. 277 

To the facts, now before the reader, it is 
known, by those acquainted with the sub- 
ject, that many might be added. Akbar, 
who ascended the throne of the Moguls, 
about the middle of the sixteenth century, 
investigated the religious and political in- 
stitutes of the Hindus, with an accuracy 
and assiduity worthy of a great philosopher 
and statesman ; and the result furnishes 
us with innumerable details all leading to 
the same conclusion.* To the facts and 
authorities, already produced, we shall add 
the testimony of Dr Leyden, that bright 
and resplendent genius, whose early loss 
will be long and deeply deplored. In his 
illustrations 46 on the Rosheniah sect," he 
assigns its origin to the " turbulent and 
sanguinary period, which preceded the ac- 
cession of Acbar to the throne of India," 
which he characterises as " a period, when 
an extraordinary ferment pervaded the 
minds of men in the East ; and when it is 

* "See the " Ayeen Akbaiy." 



278 PROMOTION OF THE GOSPEL IN INDIA. 

difficult to say, whether civil or religious 
matters were in the most changeful and 
uncertain state." # 

There is just one other position, to which 
we can at all imagine the assertors of Hin- 
du immutability to retreat, and that is the 
distinction of casts. Now, this must be al- 
lowed to be the greatest barrier to innova- 
tion, or change, that ever the ingenuity of 
man devised. It has answered that pur- 
pose long, and to a great extent. But, like 
every thing that is human, it must decay, 
and will continue just so long, as those who 
are the objects of it, do not find a motive 
sufficiently strong to break through its re- 
straints. The springs of this mighty poli- 
tical engine, however, have, generally speak- 
ing, already lost their elasticity ; and, on 
several great and important occasions, have 
been completely counteracted by opposing 
forces. What has been done may teach 
us this, that, if what remains unaccomplish- 

* Asiatic Researches, vol. xi, p. 364 



CUSTOMS SAID TO BE IMMUTABLE, 279 

ed be not very easy, it certainly does not 
appear to be very difficult. 

Pour in light upon the Hindus: lead 
them to reason : present to them their ac- 
tual, compared with their possible state ; 
and the fetters of cast will soon be burst 
asunder. This distinction, being purely 
ideal, and existing merely in opinion, all 
that is necessary to its annihilation is, to 
bring the people to the conviction that such 
are its properties. When the perception 
of this fact exists even faintly in the minds 
of the inferior classes, the classes that are 
most numerous, and physically the most 
powerful, it will find mighty co-adjutors, in 
the principles natural to every man ; and 
which will never allow him to remain quies- 
cent and stationarv, when the means of 
bettering his circumstances, and, as in their 
case, of actually rising in the scale of being, 
lie before them. From the facts already 
noticed, it is evident, that the people of 
Hindustan are every moment going on to 
this point of light and conviction ; and when 



280 PROMOTION OF THE GOSPEL IN INDIA. 

they have reached it, the work is done* 
And blessed will be the memory of every 
man, who is instrumental in accelerating 
this emancipation, and in accomplishing an 
object, so unspeakably glorious in its con- 
sequences ! 

Let us now attend to some of the facts, by 
which our reasoning is justified, — by which 
that, which we have been authoritatively 
enjoined to believe impossible, is shown 
to have been done frequently, and on a 
grand scale, and — which is more to our 
purpose, than we should have previously 
expected — is shown to have been done 
almost without the intervention of an ap- 
parent cause. One fact, then, is, that the 
Jahrejahs, who remained in Scind, have 
renounced cast. Another fact is, that 
throughout Hindustan, there are fifteen 
millions of Mahomedans, most of whom 
were originally Hindus, who have abandon- 
ed their creed and their cast. To these 
are to be added the followers of Buddha, 
by whom the distinction is abolished. We 
pass over the people recently discovered 



y 



CUSTOMS SAID TO BE IMMUTABLE. 



28 i 



without cast, to the east of Calcutta ; that 
we may come to the grand and comprehen- 
sive fact, involved in the present state of 
the Sikh nation. 

It cannot be supposed, that there are 
many, who are entirely unacquainted with 
the interesting history of this people, for 
which we are under great obligations to Sir 
John Malcom. They occupy vast regions, 
and the most fertile in India.* Now, these 

* <4 The country now possessed by the Sikhs, which 
reaches from latitude 28° 40' to beyond latitude 32° N. 
and includes all the Penjab, a small part of Multan, and 
most of that tract of country, which lies between the 
Jumna and the Satlej, is bounded to the northward and 
westward, by the territories of the king of Cabul ; to 
the eastward by the possessions of the mountaineer Ra- 
jas of Jammu, Nadon, and Srinagar ; and to the south- 
ward, by the territories of the English Government, 
and the sandy deserts of Jasalmer, and Hansya Hisar." 
. — That we might have some notion of the immense re- 
sources of this mighty people, our author states, that 
the province of Lahore alone, according to Mr Bernier. 
" produced, in the reign of Aurungzeb, two hundred 
and forty-six lacks, and ninety-five rupees ; or two mil- 
lions, four hundred, and sixty-nine thousand, five hun- 
dred pounds sterling." — Asiatic Researches, vol. xi. p, 
249. The " Sketch of the Sikhs'" was published sepa- 
rately in 1812. 



282 PROMOTION OF THE GOSPEL IN INDIA. 

millions of human beings, spread over the 
fairest portion of India, are of Hindu origin ; 
yet they have renounced the creed of their 
ancestors, and, along with it, the distinc- 
tions of cast. The founder of this sect, 
which has now grown to a mighty nation, 
was Nanac, an obscure individual, born in 
the year of the Christian sera 1469. His 
doctrines spread rapidly, without the inter- 
vention of any other power, than that of 
mild persuasion. His tenets comprise a 
system of Deism and superstition blended 
together : and the most striking difference 
between his followers, and those of Kubeer, 
in this respect, consists in the renunciation, 
by the Sikhs, of cast, and their assertion of 
the natural equality and rights of all men. 

It is quite foreign from our present pur- 
pose to mark the changes, superinduced 
upon the tenets of this people, by their suc- 
cessive leaders, or the subdivisions of sect, 
which exist among them. It is enough to 
observe, that they are very different from . 
what they were ; and that, in progress of 



CUSTOMS SAID TO BE IMMUTABLE. 283 

time, they acquired, under Guru Govind, 
a military character, and are now the most 
warlike people among the native inhabitants 
of Hindustan. The completeness of the 
change cannot, perhaps, be more strikingly 
marked than by the following maxim, de- 
livered by Govind to his followers : — " It is 
right," said he, " to slay a Muhammedan 
wherever you meet him. If you meet a 
Hindu, beat him, and plunder him, and di- 
vide his property among you. Employ 
your constant effort to destroy the coun- 
tries, ruled by Muhammedans. If they 
oppose you, defeat, and slay them." # 

To what has now been said of this extra- 
ordinary people, shall be added a few sen- 
tences from the most distinguished literary 
journal of our time, the writers of which 
will not be suspected of any undue bias in 
favour of the object of this chapter. In a 
review of the " Sketch," from which the 
above statements are taken, they say,f 

* Asiatic Researches, vol. xi. p. 288. 
•f Edinburgh Review, vol. xxi. p. 437. 



284) PROMOTION OF THE GOSPEL IN INDIA. 

"It is not nearly of so much importance 
to know what they now believe, and how 
they act, as to know that they believe and 
act very differently from what they recent- 
ly did."—" That very part of the Hindu 
system, which has been represented as con- 
stituting its chief strength, is that which 
contains the seeds of its dissolution. The 
institution of casts exposes it to destruc- 
tion. It presses on the great mass of the 
population, with so galling a weight, that 
they are ready, it seems, to hail its disso- 
lution with transport. It is an opinion ge- 
nerally diffused among the Hindus, that a 
time is destined to arrive, when this union 
of the casts will be universal. This, it is 
easy to see, is one of the prophecies, which 
may be expected to operate its own fulfil- 
ment." 

To this extract, we shall merely add the 
following just and memorable words : — 

" But the truly remarkable, and truly in- 
structive feature of this story, is, that the 
Hindus of this extensive region, a people, 



CUSTOMS SAID TO BE IMMUTABLE. 285 

whom we are daily taught, or rather com- 
manded to believe absolutely unchange- 
able, have undergone a more entire revolu- 
tion, in religion, in manners, in social and 
political institutions, than, in so short a 
space of time, and with the application of 
such ordinary means, has any where else 
been known among mankind."* 

We shall now, it is presumed, be warrant- 
ed to conclude, that not only are the Hindus, 
like all other human beings, changeable in 
their character, and in their religious, and 
political institutions ; but that they are so 
in a great degree: that they are distinguish- 
ed by all the varying shades of supersti- 
tion, from the most abominable and bloodv 
rites, to as near an approximation to just 
notions of one Supreme Being, as we have 
ever found to exist, where the Divine re- 
velation has been unknown. We have 
found, that what, previously to experience, 
would have been deemed a very inadequate 

* Edinburgh Review, vol. xxi. p. 485. 

4 



286 PROMOTION OF THE GOSPEL IN INDIA* 

power, has produced mighty and perma- 
nent changes ; and that, whenever an at- 
tempt at innovation has been made, it has 
produced effects greater, than could have 
been fairly expected. We have found, that 
cast presents, upon the whole, but a feeble 
barrier, and one that has been frequently, 
and to a great extent, surmounted. The na- 
ture and causes, also, of the great changes, 
to which we have adverted, warrant us far- 
ther to conclude, that the only reason, that 
can be assigned, why changes, yet greater 
and more magnificent, have not taken 
place, is, either that they have not been 
attempted at all ; — or, that the means em- 
ployed, have been manifestly inadequate, 
or have been checked in their operation, 
by some countervailing power, extrinsic of 
* the Hindu character and institutions. — In 
short, this temple, deemed of adamantine 
and imperishable materials, has frequently 
received concussions, which, although they 
have not yet reduced it to an entire ruin, 
have taught us, that its splendour is fa- 



ALLEGED DANGER OF ATTEMPTING IT. 287 

ding, and the term of its duration ap- 
proaching. 



SECTION SECOND. 

The alleged Danger of attempting to communicate 
the Gospel to our fellow Subjects in India, con- 
sidered. 

That what has been advanced of the 
Hindus as an unchangeable people is quite 
untenable, has, it is presumed, been satis- 
factorily evinced. Less uniformity, indeed, 
cannot easily be imagined, than exists 
among that people. Now, as the invinci- 
bility of their prejudices must be abandon- 
ed, so, as a matter of course, must all that 
has been asserted of the impracticability of 
communicating to them the blessings of 
Christianity. All that can, with any plau- 
sibility, therefore, be now maintained, is, 
that there may be difficulty, or even dan- 
ger, in the attempt. The considerations, 



3 



288 PROMOTION OF THE GOSPEL IN INDIA. 

however, already before the reader, in a 
great measure, repel both of these allega- 
tions. 

With regard to the difficulty, who is 
there that engages in any enterprize what- 
ever, but expects to meet with it, in a 
greater, or less degree ? Colonel Walker 
experienced more of it in the abolition of 
infanticide, than any other man, so far as 
we know, who has effected a change among 
that people. But, resolved that the thing 
should be done, and holding it as a maxim, 
that it could not be purchased at too great 
an expence, of perseverance and patience, 
directed by benevolence, he scorned the 
mean and dastardly insinuations of diffi- 
culty ; and as to the impossibility of suc- 
cess, of which he was frequently assured, 
he regarded it as an idle phantom, the crea- 
tion of indolence and of ignorance. — How 
his views were justified, the world knows ; 
and we fear not but the world will also 
know soon, what experience already proves 
to a considerable extent, that equally well 



ALLEGED DANGER OF ATTEMPTING IT. 289 

founded are the views of those, who would 
communicate the everlasting gospel to the 
millions of India. Let those who tremble 
at the difficulties, with which the enter- 
prise seems to them to be fraught, hush to 
rest the terrors of their troubled bosoms, 
and retire to the congenial haunts of tor- 
pid inactivity and indolence. We expect 
not, and we ask not, their aid. But men 
there are, who heed not difficulties; and 
who, whilst they would beware of increasing 
them, and would not meet them unprepa- 
red, yet approach them undismayed, trust- 
ing in the faithful promise, and in the al- 
mighty power of Him, whose cause they 
have espoused. That the difficulties to be 
encountered, however, in the conversion of 
the Hindus, are fewer, and less appaling, 
than in any other land of Heathens that 
has been brought to the knowledge of 
the truth, appears partly from what has been 
already said, and the evidence will become 
brighter, as we advance. 

Finding that the threatening of difficult 



PROMOTION OF THE GOSPEL IN INDIA* 

ties made no impression on the friends of 
Christianity in India, their opponents next 
attempted to conjure up the huge and gi- 
gantic phantoms of danger, of most im- 
measurable dimensions, and of aspect most 
menacing and terrific. The part of the 
scene, which first rises into view, is nothing 
more appaling than a Brahmin on the banks 
of the Ganges, reclining at his ease, with 
an English newspaper in his hand. For a 
time, all is sweet and tranquil ; but at length 
this important personage advances to the 
parliamentary discussions, relative to the 
extension of Christianity in India; and then, 
what a scene is exhibited ! Rising in wrath, 
he seizes the torch of discord ; and in a 
moment, the flame of rebellion, quick as 
winged thought* flies from the one end of 
Hindustan to the other ; and in a moment 
more, all that is visible, is poor Britannia 
weeping over her shivered trident, the loss 
of thirty thousand of her hapless sons, and 
the ashes of her Eastern empire, scattered 
to the four winds of heaven I 



/ 



ALLEGED DANGER OF ATTEMPTING IT. 291 

This representation made the impres- 
sion, which it ought to make on thinking 
men. The period of threatened peril is 
now past ; and it would be idle to say what 
happened among a people, who are passive 
in a degree, to which we have no parallel ; 
and who, if they were the most inflammable 
of the human race, are yet completely de- 
prived of the means of resistance. — It is 
right, however, that the reader should bear 
in mind, that the friends of the measure, 
never thought of employing, in the diffu- 
sion of the gospel of peace, any means, 
calculated to irritate the irrascible pas- 
sions: nothing but the powers of persua- 
sion, and of brotherly kindness and love. 

Of the dangers of which we have heard 
so much, we have no evidence, except a 
few assertions, which seem to be entitled 
to just as much respect, as those which af- 
firm the immutability of the Hindu cha- 
racter,* An attempt, indeed, was made to 

* The talent for discovering danger, not merely in 
embryo, but even in the potentiality of existences seems 



292 PROMOTION OF THE GOSPEL IN INDIA* 



convince the world, that the mutiny at Vel- 
lore went to prove this point. The advo- 
cates for Christianity were sternly com- 
manded never again to open their mouths 
upon the subject. Let the mutiny at Vel- 
lore, it was said, convince them, if they are 

tp be possessed by some men, in a degree, altogether 
unimaginable by ordinary minds. It appears indispu- 
table, however, that, at the head of this order, should be 
placed the Right Reverend Dr Law, Lord Bishop of 
Chester. In the last charge delivered to the clergy of 
his diocese, he says : " It is my decided conviction, 
that, by joining the Bible Society, you may, though un<- 
intentionally, endanger the interests of the church and 
state."" — How could his Lordship have reached this con- 
clusion, unless one of his premises had been, that the 
Bible is a bad book ? He immediately adds,—" But 
that you will, most unquestionably, render service to both, 
by giving your undivided support to the Society for pro- 
moting Christian Knowledge." — The whole mystery of 
the matter, however, is this, that the Bible Society 
acts on the liberal and enlightened principle of admit- 
ting the co-operation of all good men, of whatever de- 
nomination of Christians ; and his Lqrdship of Chester 
seems to hold all men of a different communion from 
his own, as " heathen men and publicans." — Happy is 
it for the church of . England, that such are not the ge- 
neral sentiments of her mitred heads, and that they are 
less likely than ever to be adopted by her most faith- 
ful sons. 



ALLEGED DANGER OF ATTEMPTING IT. 293 

capable of being convinced, that any at- 
tempt to convert the natives, will be re- 
ceived by them, as the signal for the over- 
throw of our Eastern empire. For our po- 
litical security, in that important quarter, 
therefore, let the Missionaries be imme- 
diately silenced, let nothing be allowed to 
issue from their press, let themselves be 
expelled from the country, and for ever 
more let our ports be shut against them. 

We shall have occasion afterwards to ad- 
vert, to the fulfilment of these threaten- 
ings, in the expulsion of Missionaries. But 
at present, let us enquire, what was the 
fact of this case ? What were the real na- 
ture and origin of this mutiny and mas- 
sacre ? — As the developement of the real 
nature of the case has now put an end to 
all controversy on the subject, a simple 
statement of it is quite sufficient — So it 
was, then, that the whole mischief that 
ensued, arose from a very inconsiderate 
and foolish military order to the native 



29^ PROMOTION OF THE GOSPEL IN INDI£. 

troops, consisting of Hindus and Mahome- 
dans, to shave their whiskers, to substitute 
a cap for a turban, and a little more mili- 
tary foppery, which, however trifling, in our 
eyes, involved the annihilation of all those 
distinctions, on which the troops placed the 
highest imaginable value. Now, these or- 
ders were issued to men with arms in their 
hands, — to men possessing the physical 
power of commanding the good faith of the 
British, which it was now attempted to vio- 
late, and which was pledged, not only to 
hold sacred, but to protect them in the en- 
joyment of what they valued. — Most gal- 
ling, however, as the nature of the case 
was to those natives, they submitted long 
and patiently; and before any symptoms 
of mutiny appeared, they endured the most 
revolting coercive measures. A regiment 
was broke, many individuals were tried, 
and two had been sentenced to receive nine 
hundred lashes on their bare backs. — As 
to Missionaries, however* there was not one 

5 



ALLEGED DANGER OF ATTEMPTING IT* 295 

within a great distance of them ; and, since 
we know from himself, that a gentleman 
could be thirteen years a member of the 
Supreme Council in Bengal, without know-* 
ing that there was a native Christian in 
India, it is no great stretch of imagina- 
tion to suppose, that these native troops 
might be equally ignorant of the existence 
of European Missionaries in the country. 

With regard to the calumnious tale, first 
circulated, in India, (for an attempt had 
been made to circulate it there,) it is gra- 
tifying to quote the following memorable 
words of General Hay M'DowalL # It 
may occasion some degree of surprise," 
says that officer, " that the people of this 
country," (India,) * should be brought to 
believe, that those, who apparently conduct 
themselves with so much apathy, in respect 
to what concerns religious worship, should 
have formed any serious scheme for con~ 
verting whole nations of different casts ^nd 
persuasions to the Christian faith, None 
but the weakest and most superstitious 



296 PROMOTION OF THE GOSPEL IN INDIA. 



could have been deluded by so improbable 
a tale." # 

Having noticed, and repelled this ca- 
lumny, let us now attend to the assertion, 
so often made, of the danger of intermed- 
dling, in the slightest degree, with the reli- 
gion of the natives ; and let us compare the 
assertion with facts.— There was a tract 
written by a native Christian, and publish- 
ed at Calcutta, which made much noise at 
the time, which greatly alarmed the go- 
vernment at that place, was the cause of a 
great deal of official writing and wrath, 
which issued in the transmission of the tiny 
production to the government at home, 
and was finally laid on the table of the 
House of Commons. The whole sin charged 
home upon the author, it seems, was that of 
abusing, perhaps indiscreetly, the Hindu 
Avataras, and daring to call the prophet 
Mahomed a false prophet. This was re- 

* See his letter of 19th November 1807, being No. 
194. of East India papers, published by order of the 
House of Commons, also in <c Buchanan's Apology. 11 



ALLEGED DANGER OF ATTEMPTING IT. 297 

garded as a matter very awful and porten- 
tous. 

The facts of the case, however, turned 
out to be these. Three hundred copies of 
the obnoxious tract had been circulated in 
Calcutta and the vicinity ; and never a syl- 
lable heard of them more, nor would more 
have been heard of them, had it not been 
for the circumstance, that one had been 
purchased by a Mahomedan merchant, who 
brought it to one of the native Pundits, 
connected with the college of that place, 
requesting him to answer it, and vindicate 
the honour of the prophet. This was all 
fair. The Mahomedans expected no more 
than to be heard in their turn, and the 
merchant, perhaps, to make a little profit 
by the matter. But the unlucky tract 
fell, somehow, thus into the hands of an 
English Christian, and was finally honour- 
ed with the notice and castigation, to which 
we have alluded, to the great astonishment, 
no doubt, of both Hindus and Mahome- 
dans* 



%9S PROMOTION OF THE GOSPEL IN INDIA. 

When the constituted authorities, how- 
ever, saw the means of gaining something 
by acting otherwise, they exhibited con- 
duct of a very different nature. They 
pushed coercion, and restraint, far beyond 
what we should have conceived the verge 
of danger, till the actual experiment has 
proved that we should have been wrong ; 
and that the Hindus are the most unresist- 
ing, passive, and patient people on earth. 
This appears from the manner, in which 
they have been taxed in performing their 
purifications in rivers, and some of their 
pilgrimages, and idolatrous acts. 

At the junction of the Ganges and 
Jamma, at Allahabad, the natives believe 
that they receive advantages of a spiritual 
nature by bathing, and are removed to the 
abodes of blessedness by drowning. Pro- 
fiting by the credulity of these poor super- 
stitious people, and having the power in 
their hands, our rulers levy a tax on the 
occasion ; and those, who desire the higher 
privilege of drowning, must pay accordingly. 



ALLEGED DANGER OF ATTEMPTING IT. 299 

Such was the number assembled there in 
January 1813, that it was calculated that 
the tax would yield 250,000 rupees. # 

It was stated in evidence before the 
House of Commons, by Mr Graham, presi- 
dent of the Board of Revenue, that the 
tax levied on the pilgrims to Gyah yielded 
the immense sum of one and a half lacks of 
rupees. These sums are pocketed by per- 
sons calling themselves Christians, whose 
boast is, that they are natives of Britain, 
the land of freedom, and toleration ; and 
the payment is enforced by those, who 
would have us believe, that it would be 
dangerous to attempt to convert the na- 
tives to Christianity, by the use of the most 
gentle means, and affectionate persuasion. 

To these facts, which for ever put an 
end to the question of danger, we are to 
add the enactments lately made by our In- 
dian Government, for the regulation of the 
temple of Juggernauth in Orissa. The 

* Report of the Church Missionary Society, 1814, 



300 PRdMOTION OF THE GOSPEL IN INDIA* 

impurity and blood, which characterise the 
worship of that idol, are well known in this 
country. None of the " regulations," al- 
luded to, however, were intended either to 
terminate, or mitigate, these abominations. 
So far was this from being the case, that 
legal provision was made for supporting the 
idolatry, and for continuing with it certain 
attractions, which, we blush to think, could 
have been contemplated with indulgence 
by British rulers, and that the fact should 
be so notorious, as to preclude the possi- 
bility of doubting, or denying it. Bad, 
however, as all this was, it threatened no 
danger. Yet this was the mere prepara- 
tion for the most direct and intolerant in- 
terference ; and if danger were to be appre- 
hended at all, interference of the most 
dangerous kind. As in the other cases, a 
tax was levied from all the pilgrims, who re- 
sorted to the temple, and a tax, which ope- 
rated to the exclusion of many. That no 
friend may doubt, nor enemy deny this 
fact, we shall exhibit the ultroneous evi- 



ALLEGED DANGER OF ATTEMPTING IT. 301 

dence of a gentleman, immediately con- 
nected with this source of revenue. This 
gentleman, too, talked of the danger of in- 
terference. 

In a letter, addressed to the Court of 
Directors, with a view to its being ultimate- 
ly laid on the table of the House of Com- 
mons, Mr Buller throws great light on the 
subject ; and, among other things, thus 
substantiates the above facts. " I know 
not," — says he, nor is there any other per- 
son, probably, that knows, — " a more power- 
ful means of restraint and regulation, than 
is afforded by the tax, I can speak," he 
adds, " from my own knowledge of the 
fact, that the imposition of the tax, so far 
from operating as an encouragement to per- 
sons to resort there, has had a direct con- 
trary tendency ; for during the time that 
access was allowed, without the tax, the 
throng of people at the place was so great, 
and such a number of the poorer classes took 
that opportunity of visiting the temple, that 
I was informed, that several persons perish- 



302 PROMOTION dF THE GOSPEL IN INDIA. 

ed from actual want of subsistence. The 
scenes on the road were, I am told, truly 
shocking ; but since the tax has been continu- 
ed^ the numbers of the pilgrims, particularly 
of the lower classes, have considerably diminish 
ed."* 

Here then is restraint, even to prohibi- 
tion and exclusion ; but not a word of dan- 
ger. The most remarkable feature, how- 
ever, and the most intolerant of ail is, that 
there was a different rate of tax establish- 
ed, according to the ability of the pilgrims ; 
whilst, according to the " Regulation of 
1809," no less than seventeen classes of 
the lower orders were absolutely excluded. 
Besides all this, the opportunities of devo- 
tion were measured according to the sum 
paid, by those, who were admitted. Those 
of the first order were allowed to go out 
and in, and do as they pleased for sixteen 
days together ; whilst those of the inferior 

* Letter from Charles Buller, Esq. M. P. to the 
Honourable the Court of Directors, 19th May, 1813. 
Buchanan's Apology, p. 16 L 



ALLEGED DANGER OF ATTEMPTING IT. 303 

orders, were put under the restraint of an 
attendant, and had their time of toleration 
more and more limited, according to the 
graduated scale of cost. 

Now, unless all this had been proved by 
incontestible evidence, and official docu- 
ments, the British public would no more 
have believed, that the rulers of our Eastern 
empire would have dared to do such things, 
than they would have adopted the Indian 
theory, that the earth is supported by a 
huge tortoise. We leave Mr Buller to re- 
concile these things with the following sen- 
tence of his letter, the object of which, we 
are told, is to repel the charge of encoura- 
ging idolatry, brought against the Bengal 
Government. " If," says he, " an anxious 
desire, on the part of Government, to re- 
move all unlawful impediments from out of 
the way of the Hindus worshipping with ease 
and convenience to themselves, be construed 
into an encouragement of idolatry, in that 
case, I apprehend the Bengal Government 
must plead guilty to the charge." 



804 PROMOTION OF THE GOSPEL IN INDIA, 

The value put by the natives upon ad- 
mission to this temple, we take from Mr 
Buller's own voluntary declaration. To 
obtain this object, he tells us, " the pil- 
grims come from all parts of Hindustan, 
from upwards of sixteen hundred miles dis- 
tance ;" in consequence of which, he has 
seen some of them " exhausted by their 
long journey, and almost starving." Now 
having Mr Buller's own testimony, that the 
Hindus value the accomplishment of this 
pilgrimage so highly, as to subject them- 
selves for the sake of it, to the dreadful 
privations and sufferings, which he ac- 
knowledges, they endure; since they are 
so passive as to submit, after paying a 
vexatious, inquisitorial, and intolerant tax, 
to have their observances clogged and cir- 
cumscribed, in the manner noticed; and 
some of them, from exhausted finances, and 
numerous classes of others, merely on ac- 
count of the place they hold in society, to 
be entirely excluded ; and all this too with- 
out any attempt to resist, or overturn the 



ALLEGED DANGER OF ATTEMPTING IT. 805 

government, is surely more than could have 
been expected from human nature. Is 
there a man, who, after all this, shall tell us 
there is danger in proposing Christianity 
to the acceptance of the Hindus ? 

To the decisive facts and testimonies, 
already adduced, we shall add, in the wri- 
ter's own language, the following luminous 
remarks ; and surely if local knowledge be 
entitled to respect, it is here eminently 
due. " The objections raised at home," 
says Mr Corrie, writing from Agra, 65 to 
the evangelization of India, on the score of 
political danger, are founded in entire mis- 
apprehension of the subject. It seems not 
to have occurred to either the friends or 
foes of the measure, that there are none 
among the natives, who have the means, 
whatever might be their will, of resisting 
the British Government. Almost all the 
ancient reigning families, are reduced to a 
state of dependence ; nor, at any time, did 
ever the zeal of the Hindus lead them to 
any formidable opposition, even to the in- 



306 PROMOTION OF THE GOSPEL IN INDIA. 

tolerant, and avowedly proselyting Maho- 
metans : so that neither do past experience, 
nor present probabilities, oppose any dif- 
ficulty in the way of publishing the Gospel 
in India." # 

Now, it is no mere speculatist, who holds 
this language. It is a man who has en- 
gaged in the work, one who has been in- 
strumental in converting both Hindus and 
Mahomedans to the Christian faith, who 
says — not merely that there is no danger, 
and that the circumstances of the people 
render the notion of it absurd ; but also, 
that we do know, and have experienced, 
that there is no difficulty in the way of pub- 
lishing the Gospel in India. He affirms 
also, that " there is no Heathen country 
where a Missionary can do so much good, 
with so little personal inconvenience." 

A fair examination, then, of what has 
been alleged, of the immutability and in- 

* Church Missionary Report ; or Christian Observer 
for 1814, p. 805. 



ALLEGED DANGER OF ATTEMPTING IT. 307 

vincibility of the Hindu character and cus- 
toms, and of the dangers of attempting 
their conversion ; proves exactly the oppo- 
site of these positions to be true, and af- 
fords the most cheering encouragement to 
the friends of Christianity. These investi- 
gations shall now be followed up by an exa- 
mination of actual attempts to communi- 
cate the Gospel to the natives of India ; 
the result of which will exhibit to us the 
most direct and powerful encouragements 
to increase our energy and zeal, till the 
good work be crowned with complete suc- 
cess. We have no doubt of convincing 
every candid and enquiring mind ; and be- 
yond those of this description, we never 
were so sanguine as to extend our hopes. 



308 PROMOTION OF THE GOSPEL IN INDIA. 

SECTION THIRD. 

Encouragements to Christians to promote the Gospel 

in India. 

The conclusions deducible from the exa- 
minations, into which we have been led, 
in the two preceding Sections, lay the foun- 
dation for establishing the subject of this. 
We now come to the development of en- 
couragements, more pointed and direct. 
Facts of this nature, however, are so nu- 
merous, and of late, in particular, have 
grown into such a body of evidence upon 
the subject, that whilst some of the more 
prominent are noticed, others must be en- 
tirely omitted, or merely glanced at, in a 
general way. 

The great number of native Christians 
in India, is a fact of a very cheering nature. 
By a gentleman * much interested in the 
progress of the Gospel in that quarter, they 

* The Reverend Henry Martyn. 



ENCOURAGEMENTS TO EXERTION. 809 

were computed, Ceylon being taken into 
the account, to amount to nine hundred 
thousand. There was no man, certainly, 
better able to guard against error, in his re- 
sults, and whose calculation should weigh 
with us more strongly. Now it must seem 
not a little surprising, that there should be 
so many in that country, who profess the 
Gospel, when we consider what impedi- 
ments and obstructions have been, of late 
years, thrown in the way of Missionaries ;* 

* A measure of this nature, unexampled perhaps for 
indecent severity, characterised the last acts of Lord 
Minto's government in India. On the 12th March, 
1813, a communication was received by Dr Marshman 
from the public Secretary, in the name of the Governor 
General (Lord Minto,) in Council, requesting him to 
inform the Missionaries, Messrs Johns, Lawson, and 
Kobinson, that they were ordered to return to Europe 
by the fleet then under dispatch. This was followed 
by an order from the magistrate of police at Calcutta, 
requiring them to appear before him next day. Mr 
Robinson was gone to Java a few days before the order 
was issued. Mr Lawson and Mr Johns appeared. 
They were required by the magistrate positively to 
sign an engagement, to embark in one of the two ships, 
then under dispatch. Dr Marshman stated, that, as 
they had not been made acquainted with the order 



310 PROMOTION OF THE GOSPEL IN INDIAo 



and that natives who profess the Gospel ? 
instead of being cherished by our Christian 
Government, have been actually subjected 
to disabilities, in consequence of holding 
the same tenets with ourselves, and are in- 

twenty-four hours ; that as consequently they had been 
unable to make any arrangements for themselves and 
their infant families, they were desirous of representing 
their case to Government; and that though willing to 
sign an engagement to obey their ultimate decision, 
yet the engagement to embark might be pleaded against 
them on their appeal : — To be brief, Mr Lawson, on 
hesitating to sign the engagement, was immediately 
sent under an escort of Seapoys to prison. By the good 
offices of Dr Marshman with Government, the other 
engagement, which he proposed, was substituted. On 
a representation to the Governor General, that Mr 
Lawson had begun a fount of Chinese types, he was 
permitted tu remain. The application in favour of Mr 
Johns was in vain. The order for his return was pe- 
remptorily confirmed ; and he was informed, that if he 
did not immediately take his passage, he would be ap- 
prehended and carried on board the vessel. Next day 
Mr and Mrs Johns and their child embarked, and have 
since arrived in England. It was announced, at the 
same time, by the public secretary, that Mr Robinson 
would be sent home from Java. 

Writing on the 25th of the same month, Dr Carey 
says, " I can assign no reason for this measure ; cer- 
tainly nothing on the part of our brethren has been, or 



ENCOURAGEMENTS TO EXERTION. 311 

admissible to offices, for which Hindus, re- 
maining Heathens, are deemed qualified. 

The depressed circumstances, in which 
they have been generally kept, and parti- 
cularly the want of the Sacred Scriptures 
in the native languages, have been very 
unfavourable to themselves personally, as 
well as to the extension of their principles. 
These evils, thanks to a kind interposing 
providence ! are now, in a great measure, 
removed. To that best of all human insti- 
tutions, the British and Foreign Bible So- 
ciety, is to be traced the greatest, and the 
most comprehensive of these blessings. 
The Sacred Scriptures are now in circula- 
tion in twenty different languages of India ; 
and how the treasure is prized, let the fol- 
lowing words of Dr Carey bear witness : — 
" The increasing and pressing demand for 

can be alleged by them as a reason. Indeed, the sweep- 
ing clause of the charter, which requires all Europeans, 
not in the service of the King, or Company, to be sent 
to England, is the alleged reason ." — See Appendix to 
Christian Observer for 1813, p. 836, 837. 



S]Q PROMOTION OF THE GOSPEL IN INDIA. 

the Holy Scriptures," says he, a is so great, 
that, though we have ten presses, constant- 
ly at work, the demand cannot be sup- 
plied." f It is not a matter now of proba- 
bility, but of experience, that the circula- 
tion of this divine book, in the native lan- 
guages, is productive of the happiest ef- 
fects, in illuminating and confirming those, 
who, profess the Gospel, and in adding daily 
to their number. It has, indeed, quite 
changed the aspect of things in India. 
The Bible has dispelled the doubts and the 
darkness, that brooded over our prospects. 
The Sun of Righteousness now appears 
rising bright and resplendent, communica- 
ting vitality and vigour to the divine seed 
of the word, and preparing the East for a 
harvest rich and abundant, beyond what 
we had dared lately to hope. That every 
tribe and nation on earth should finally be 
made glad by the tidings of salvation, the 



* Report of the British and Foreign Bible Society 
for 1814. Dr Carey's letter of 10th December 1813. 

Appendix, j , 



ENCOURAGEMENTS TO EXERTION. SIS 

Christian never could doubt, as it is enrol- 
led among the revealed purposes of Him, 
who bends the inclinations of men at his 
pleasure, makes even their wrath to praise 
Him, and restrains those ebullitions of it, 
which are not calculated to subserve his 
gracious designs. But when the bright sera 
should arrive, we knew not. The " signs 
of the times," however, now speak a lan- 
guage of no doubtful interpretation. 

Every thing that favours discussions re- 
lative to Christianity, is propitious to its 
introduction. The civilization of India, 
too, though by no means so high, as some 
have affirmed, is yet sufficiently great to 
prove favourable to reasoning. We have 
seen the effects of it in Guzerat, in regard 
to infanticide. Particular instances of it 
in various other parts of Hindustan, and 
the happy issue of them in the reception of 
Christianity, are far too numerous to admit 
of being even glanced at ; and the encour- 
agements which they afford, are direct and 
cheering. Such instances, however, it 



214} PROMOTION OF THE GOSPEL IN INDIA. 

would be improper altogether to withhold. 
The following is directly illustrative of the 
statement now made. 

" There is," — says Dr Carey, of whose 
learning, piety, and wisdom, the world is 
furnished with so many satisfactory proofs, 
_ " there is a general spirit of enquiry 
about the Gospel all over the country ; and 
this enquiry increases more and more.— 
Five natives of high cast, not far from 
Serampore, have lately been baptized, who 
have been brought to a knowledge of the 
truth, without any communication with us. 
They met with Bibles and tracts, and God 
wrought by them. These men had begun 
to sanctify the Sabbath, and meet for Chris- 
tian worship, before we knew them. They 
have boldly owned the Saviour ; and meet 
the persecutions of their idolatrous rela- 
tions, like Christians. They say there are 
nearly a hundred, who are only detained 
from publicly acknowledging Christ, by 
family opposition, and who, it is hoped, will 
be enabled to make a profession in due 



ENCOURAGEMENTS TO EXERTION. 315 

time." * What numbers there may be in 
the same circumstances with those here al- 
luded to, who having reached conviction, 
without acquiring the decision of character 
requisite to the avowal, we know not ; but 
that they are very many, it would be un- 
reasonable to doubt. 

In the late " Periodical Accounts" of 
the Baptist Mission in India, we have a 
succinct view of their progress for the three 
years preceding the close of 1812. f Du- 
ring that period, the number of their stations 
had increased from six to twelve, and the 
number of their members from one hundred 
and ninety-one, to about Jive hundred. The 
establishment of a Lancastrian school at 
Calcutta, has produced a great impression 
in that place. At Calcutta and Serampore, 
one hundred and sixty persons have been 
baptized within this period. At the very 

seat of the abominations of Juggernauth, 

i 

* Missionary Register, vol. L p. 424, 

f No. 25, 



316 PROMOTION OF THE GOSPEL IN INDIA. 

in Orissa, the Bible has been circulated, and 
even a church .formed, consisting of be- 
tween thirty and forty members. In Jes- 
sore, the number has increased from thirty 
to eighty. Churches have been formed 
likewise, at Bheerboom, Agra, Digah, Pat- 
na, and Dacca. 

Under the head of Serampore and Cal- 
cutta, we have the gratifying information, 
that, in an institution for the instruction of 
poor children, there are upwards of three 
hundred boys and girls taught in distinct 
apartments ; and as the numbers were in- 
creasing beyond their hopes, and beyond 
the accommodation provided, a new build- 
ing had been erected in 1812, capable of 
receiving eight hundred children. How 
delightful to the benevolent mind of the 
Christian, are these interesting youthful 
seminaries ! 

In preaching on various occasions, and 
in different places, many listened to the 
Missionaries, with deep attention ; and al- 
though, as in the case of the Apostles, 



ENCOURAGEMENTS TO EXERTION. S11 

there were occasions when " some mock- 
ed," yet others believed, and, among all, 
the spirit of enquiry was promoted. Among 
the instances of conversion, is that of a 
Faqueer, who, after attending the preaching 
of the Missionaries for three weeks, came 
and professed his faith in the Gospel. With 
his own hands he tore away the beads, and 
the charm, given him by his guru, and, re- 
nouncing his mendicant habits, he with his 
wife and child were emulous to render 
themselves useful to the Christian society, 
of which they now constituted a part. It 
is obvious, that nothing but strong convic- 
tion could have led him to act in a way so 
disadvantageous to his temporal interests. 
Among recent facts of an encouraging na- 
ture, the following will be regarded as strik- 
ing and memorable. To be concise, it was 
this : a head guru, to whom many subordi- 
nate gurus looked with implicit reverence, 
lately embraced the Christian faith ; and 
he, with about thirty of his disciples, con- 
sisting of Brahmins and other classes, gave 



/ 



31 S PROMOTION OF THE GOSPEL IN INDIA* 

the most decisive proof of abandoning cast, 
by eating with the Missionaries. " We 
will no longer," said he, " preserve the dis- 
tinctions of cast, but seek to possess the 
true religion, in which there is no cast. His 
disciples all desired instruction from him, 
and assured him of a ready obedience." To 
one of the Missionaries, he said : " I as- 
suredly know that there is one God, one 
religion, one Saviour, and no more." # 

Among those, whose personal labours are 
employed in diffusing the Gospel in India, 
is Abdool Messee, whose conversion from 

* Periodical Accounts, No. 25. p. 25. To what is 
stated in the text, may be added the following sen- 
tences, on the same authority. 

" It is a fact, which has frequently been adverted to 
in the progress of our mission, that large bodies of Hin- 
dus have gone off from the ancient forms of idolatry, 
and formed different sects among themselves. They 
all profess a great reverence for their spiritual guides, 
and are strongly inclined to a hospitable and friendly 
mixture of all casts. This schism, having thus turned 
the minds of many from the Brahmins, as a body, to 
the particular religious guides, under which they have 
ranged themselves, has opened a wide door for the en- 
trance of the Gospel."~^/M. p. 25, 26. 



ENCOURAGEMENTS TO EXERTION. 319 

Mahomedanism, was connected with strik- 
ing and peculiar circumstances. He has 
been instrumental in converting many dis- 
tinguished Mahomedans, as well as Hindus, 
to the Christian faith. Of this description 
was a physician, then attendant on the royal 
family at Jondpore. * 

While men have been disputing in Great 
Britain whether they should allow those f 
who are desirous of doing it, to carry the 
word of salvation to the Heathens of India, 
the natives there, on first hearing the na- 
ture of the Christian scheme, have expres- 
sed their surprise, that it had never been 
previously made known to them. Let 
those who have been hitherto able to con- 
template the millions of India " perishing 
for lack of knowledge," consider, with a 
wakeful conscience, the following narration. 
— " During my address," says one of the 
Missionaries, " an inquisitive Hindu inter- 

* For most of these particulars, and others of a simi- 
lar nature, see Keport of the Church Missionary So- 
ciety for 1814. 



320 PROMOTION OF THE GOSPEL IN INDIA, 

rupted me, by asking me, where our Lord 
Jesus Christ, the new Saviour, that I de- 
clared to them, had been for so long a time, 
that he had only now heard of him ? I told 
him, that the Saviour I preached was no 
new Saviour, but the only one appointed of 
God, against whom we had sinned ; and 
that to him alone all the ends of the earth 
are exhorted to look and be saved. If he 
then be a Saviour for all the world, how is 
it that the Europeans, who appear to have 
had him revealed to them, did not, all this 
time, make him known to us f" — This was an 
emphatic question ; and what a pity, that 
it admitted of no other answer than the 
Missionary gave it ! " I told him," says 
he, " this did not lessen the truth of my 
assertion ; for that all the Europeans, whom 
he saw in India, were not Christians." 

Next to the open hostility, which the 
Missionaries have had to encounter, — not 
from the natives, for there they experience 
none, but — from Europeans, calling them- 
selves Christians, the greatest impediments 



ENCOURAGEMENTS TO EXERTION. 321 

to their success have been the unchristian 
lives of our own countrymen. This ob- 
stacle has been experienced by every Mis- 
sionary, from the days of Swartz to the pre- 
sent time. Abdool was, on one occasion, 
addressed thus : " It is in vain to pretend, 
that what you teach is Christianity ; we 
see nothing of it in the Christians. The 
Sahibs take all manner of women into their 
houses, — their care is only about wine 
and banqueting, and hunting and gaming. 
Never say that your doctrine is theirs ; you 
have made up a religion for yourself."* 

Ungrateful as the subject is, we cannot 
withhold another illustration of the same 
fact, which occurred in the course of a very 
interesting scene, which took place at Mo- 
nickpore, between Abdool, and an aged man 
of great reputed sanctity, and who is the 
proprietor of several villages. In passing, 
it is worthy of being remarked, that this 

* AbdooFs Journal, under date June 26, 1813 3 in 
Church Missionary Society's Report for 1814. 

x 



322 PROMOTION OF THE GOSPEL IN INDIA. 

respectable person treated the distinction 
of cast with contempt, and received Abdool 
with much kindness. — " Pray," said he to 
Abdool, " have the English any books be- 
sides histories and books of amusement ?" 
—The question being answered, he added : 
" Well, I never knew that before : — And 
have the English any kind of worship 
among them?"* 

It is most gratifying to add, that such is, 
by no means, universally the character of 
our countrymen in India. Not to speak of 
those, who, from time to time, have return- 
ed, there are many in India, who adorn the 
profession of the Gospel. Such proofs of 
this fact have lately appeared, as must 
be ranked under the head of direct en- 
couragements to the friends of Christianity 
in our Eastern empire. Not to speak of 
private and individual exertion, we have 
lately seen several Bible Societies establish- 

* AbdooPs Journal, under date February 5, 1813, in 
Church Missionary Society's Report for 1814, 



ENCOURAGEMENTS TO EXERTION. 323 

ed there. The British and Foreign Bible 
Society, that parent of good, having seen 
its example followed, as if by acclamation, 
throughout the greater part of the world, 
has the happiness of now finding imitators 
in Asia* 

The Calcutta Auxiliary Bible Society, 
whose first Report was published in 181 % 
was then supported by the liberal contribu- 
tions of more than 500 persons, of all ranks 
and denominations* To this is to be ad- 
ded the very encouraging information late- 
ly received, that, before the end of the fol- 
lowing year, Lord Moira, the Governor 
General in Council, had granted ten thou- 
sand rupees towards the expense of print- 
ing various translations of the Sacred Scrip- 
tures.* This we hail as an auspicious 
omen of that Nobleman's rule in India. At 
Bombay, in 1813, a similar institution was 
established, in consequence, as they ac- 

* 44 Periodical Accounts relative to the Baptist Mis- 
sionary Society," No. 27. p, 398, 



324* PROMOTION OF THE GOSPEL IN INDIA. 

knowledge, of the example given them 
at Calcutta. Among other distinguished 
names, connected with large contributions, 
it is very gratifying to mark that of Sir 
Evan Nepean, the Governor of Bombay, 
attached to the subscription of a thousand 
rupees. While writing the second Report 
of the Calcutta Society, # Dr Carey states, 
that another was then forming in the Isle 
of France. In addition to these facts, we 
have to notice the Auxiliary Society at 
Colombo in Ceylon. A most promising 
characteristic of this institution, is its being 
patronized by the Governor and Council of 
the Island. 

Ceylon, it should be remarked, also, has 
been always distinguished by the happy 
peculiarity that native Christians, instead 
of being depressed below their Heathen 
neighbours, have been regarded with the 
favour, which it became a Christian govern- 
ment to extend to them, and are eligible 

* December 10, 1813. 



ENCOURAGEMENTS TO EXERTION. 325 

to offices, which others are considered in- 
capable of holding. What we should na- 
turally expect as the consequence of such 
procedure, has been realized in Ceylon. 
A member of the institution at Colombo 
writes thus : — " You must also know, that, 
in this settlement, the Christian religion is 
already professed by all the chief native 
inhabitants, and highly respected by the 
natives of every description." 

Through the medium of these facts, we 
perceive the horizon of India brightening 
on our view. Every thing, at this propi- 
tious period, concurs to stimulate the en- 
deavours of Christians, and to point pecu- 
liarly to the East as the scene of their ef- 
forts. In connection with the late legisla- 
tive provision for the protection and encou- 
ragement of Missionaries, the melioration 
of Anglo-Indian character, exhibited in en- 
deavours to circulate the Bible, give us rea- 
son to hope, that the cause will soon cease 
to exist, for that reproach which has been 
so frequently and so justly cast upon the 



326 PROMOTION OF THE GOSPEL IN INDIA. 

conduct of Europeans in that quarter. The 
men of most exalted power in India ap- 
pear to favour the diffusion of the Sacred 
Scriptures, and they have many coadjutors 
in the righteous cause. We hope also, and 
still more earnestly desire, to be convinced, 
that in many cases, the opposition and hos- 
tility exhibited to the diffusion of Chris- 
tianity in India, have originated in an ig- 
norance of the facilities afforded for its ac- 
complishment in the circumstances of the 
natives, and in a total misapprehension of 
the spirit, in which the friends of the mea- 
sure have it in view to extend the domi^ 
nion of the Gospel of peace. 

Although this part of the work will ex- 
tend beyond what was anticipated, it would 
be improper to pass to another topic, with- 
out adverting to the labours and the suc- 
cess of Mr Swartz. He may be consider- 
ed, in a great measure, as laying the foun- 
dation, as well as rearing the most difficult 
part, of that superstructure, which is now 
rising into magnificence. He has pointed 



ENCOURAGEMENTS TO EXERTION. 327 

out the proper mode of procedure, and the 
success of his labours affords us the most 
substantial encouragement. Amid the 
multitude of important facts, which crowd 
upon our notice, a few shall be selected 
from an authority, which never yet has 
been questioned, which is his own ; and 
from the testimony of the Court of Direc- 
tors, drawn forth purely by admiration of 
his character, and gratitude to his memory. 

Instead of what we have been accustom- 
ed to hear, of rebellion and the overthrow of 
our Eastern empire, marching in the train 
of a Missionary, it is well known that the 
credit, in which this man was held, by na- 
tives of every condition, from the Rajah 
and Brahmin, down to the meanest Sudra, 
often healed her wounds, and propped her 
tottering cause. What the power of Bri- 
tish arms, the wisdom of British councils, 
and even the sacredness of treaty could 
not effect, was accomplished by the mere 
word of Mr Swartz. " Beloved .and ho- 
noured by Europeans," say the Directors., 



328 PROMOTION OF THE GOSPEL IN INDIA. 

" he was, if possible, held in still deeper re- 
verence by the natives of this country,* of 
every degree and every sect ; and their 
unbounded confidence in his integrity and 
truth, was, on many occasions, rendered 
highly beneficial to the public service. The 
poor and the injured looked up to him, as 
an unfailing friend and advocate : the great 
and powerful concurred in yielding him 
the highest homage, ever paid in this quar- 
ter of the globe to European virtue.'* 

The inhabitants of the Tanjore country 
abandoned it, on account of the unendu- 
rable oppression to which they had been 
subjected. The land was desolate, and cul- 
tivation had ceased. " Every one dread- 
ed the calamity of a famine. I entreated 
the Rajah," says Mr Swartz,f " to remove 

* India, where a monument, with the inscription of 
which this is a part, was to have been erected. But 
the monument, actually sent out in 1807, has not been 
erected. Will not the order be enforced ? 

f See Ais letter of Apology in answer to a speech 
delivered in the British Parliament, in 1793, by Mr 



ENCOURAGEMENTS TO EJXERTION. 329 

that shameful oppression, and to recal the 
inhabitants. He sent them word that jus- 
tice should be done to them ; but they dis- 
believed his promises. He then desired 
me to write to them, and to assure them 
that he, at my intercession, would show 
kindness to them. I did so. All imme- 
diately returned." As months of the sea- 
son for cultivation had been already lost, 
he exhorted them to diligence. They re- 
plied : " As you have showed kindness to 
us, you shall not have reason to repent it : 
we intend to work night and day, to show 
our regard for you." — And they did do. 

Apologizing, now that he feels himself put 
upon his defence, for using language, which, 
by the plainest statement, must resemble 
boasting, he says, — " No inhabitant,"— we 
cannot advert to the interesting facts, with 
which the quotation is connected — No 
inhabitant has suffered by Christians ; none 

Montgomery Campbell, and published by the Society 
for promoting Christian Knowledge. 



330 PROMOTION OF THE GOSPEL IN INDIA. 

have complained of it. On the contrary,' one 
of the richest inhabitants said to me ; Sir, 
if you send a person to us, send one who 
has learned all your ten commandments. 
For he and many hundreds had been pre- 
sent, when I explained the Christian doc- 
trine to Heathens and Christians." — Do 
the men, who oppose the diffusion of the 
Gospel in India, know these facts, and 
others of a similar nature? And if not, 
why do they not endeavour to understand, 
before they attempt to discuss, the sub- 
ject ? ;tmM- ^^^KK^" 
It has been affirmed, that the venerable 
man, so justly named the apostolic Swartz, 
was a mere politician, and that never in 
his life, had he converted a Hindu to 
Christianity. — The following facts, known 
to our Indian government, render any re- 
marks unnecessary. — When the Collaries, 
or villages of thieves and robbers in the Tan- 
jore, had plundered to a great extent, and 
committed dreadful outrages, the Sepoys 
were sent by government to adjust mat- 



ENCOURAGEMENTS TO EXERTION. 331 

ters ; but in vain. Mr Swartz was then re- 
quested by government to use his influ- 
ence. He did so ; and with complete ef- 
fect. " At last," says that venerable man, 
" some of those thievish Collaries desired 
to be instructed. I said, I am obliged to 
instruct you ; but I am afraid that you will 
become very bad Christians. Their pro- 
mises were fair. I instructed them ; and 
when they had a tolerable knowledge, I 
baptized them. Having baptized them, I 
exhorted them to steal no more, but to 
work industriously. After that, I visited 
them ; and having examined their know- 
ledge, I desired to see their work. I ob- 
served with pleasure, that their fields were 
excellently cultivated. Now, said I, one 
thing remains to be done; you must pay 
your tribute readily, and not wait till it be 
exacted by military force, which otherwise 
is their custom. Soon after that, I found 
that they had paid off their tribute exactly. 
The only complaint against those Christian 
Collaries was, that they refused to go upon 



; 

332 PROMOTION OF THE GOSPEL IN INDIA. 

I plundering expeditions as they had done 

I before." 

I] Mr Swartz had occasion to refute the al- 

legation, which still continues to be re- 
peated, that the converts to Christianity 
were of the lowest orders, outcasts, par- 
riars. This reminds us of the charge 
brought by the Pharisees against our Sa- 
viour, that publicans only became his dis- 

■ ciples. The reader has not forgotten Dr 

Carey's incidental testimony on this sub- 
ject; and that all the evidence before us 
leads to a contrary conclusion. Mr Swartz 
writes thus ; " Neither is it true, that the 
best part of those people, who have been 
instructed, are parriars. Had Mr M. Camp- 
bell," the gentleman who made the attack 
in the House of Commons, " visited even 
once, our church, he would have observed, 
that more than two-thirds were of the higher 
cast ; and so is it at Tranquebar, and Ve- 

■ . pery." 

Facts both of a general and particular 
nature have now been stated, and the con- 



ENCOURAGEMENTS TO EXERTION. 333 



elusion, to which they lead, is uniformly 
the same. And consistently with all that 
has been advanced, Dr Carey says, in Ja- 
nuary 1814, " the news from all quarters 
is more or less encouraging." As illustra- 
tions of this fact, we are informed, that a 
mission has been established at Ava, the 
capital of the Burman empire, and likewise 
a printing press, conducted by the Mis- 
sionaries, all under the immediate favour 
and patronage of the Emperor. At Am- 
boyna there are twenty thousand Chris- 
tians ; and it is to be noticed among propi- 
tious circumstances, that the Resident at 
that place, feels so much interested in the 
diffusion of divine truth, that he wrote to 
Dr Carey, intreating that Missionaries 
might be sent thither.* 

In India, then, every thing is encoura- 
ging. Every thing invites the increased 
exertion of Christians in diffusing the Gos- 
pel, in that quarter : the great number of 

* Periodical Accounts, No. 27, 



334 PROMOTION OF THE GOSPEL IN INDIA. 

native Christians; the spirit of enquiry 
existing among the people, and increased 
by the circulation of the Scriptures : their 
comparative openness to conviction, which 
has so extensively issued in their conver- 
sion : the high respect, in which the cha- 
racter of a Christian Missionary has been, 
and is held by native princes, as well as the 
mass of the people ; the protection now af- 
forded by the legislature to those, who en- 
gage in this good work ; the evident ame- 
lioration of European character in India ; 
and the institutions, recently established 
there, for the diffusion of the Sacred Scrip- 
tures : these are encouragements, to which 
it is surely unnecessary to add any more 
than the comprehensive one contained in 
the promise of the Great Head of the 
Church, to such as engage in the sacred 
cause — " Lo! I am with you always, even 
unto the end of the world." 



DUTY OF CHRISTIANS TO ENGAGE IN IT. 



3U 



SECTION FOURTH. 
Duty of Christians to promote the Gospel in India, 

Those who may be expected to attempt, 
with any degree of ardour, the conversion 
of the natives of India to the Christian 
faith, must be themselves Christians. By 
Christians, are here meant, of course, not 
those, who are such merely in name, but 
who are such in heart, principle, and en- 
deavour. From others, little, if any thing, 
is to be hoped for ; but their exertions we 
are to regard as a matter of course. It 
would be absurd, then, to prove to them a 
duty, of which the description of their cha- 
racter involves the admission. They may 
need to be stimulated, but not to be 
taught. 

The selection, however, of a particular 
scene of exertion, is a matter which must 
depend upon the nature of the encourage- 
ments afforded. Now, whilst opportunities 



\ 



336 PROMOTION OF THE GOSPEL IN INDIA. 

of advancing the interests of the Redeem- 
er's kingdom are to be no where neglected, 
so far as we possess the means, it appears, 
from what has been already advanced, that 
India affords peculiar encouragements and 
facilities for the promotion of the Gospel. 
" The fields are already white unto the 
harvest." 

As to those who profess to be Christians, 
and yet instead of promoting, would im- 
pede every effort for the diffusion of the 
Gospel ; we may be surely allowed to doubt 
of their consistency, and would solicit their 
attention to some considerations, on a sub- 
ject, which they must admit to be import- 
ant. Those who tell us, that the conver- 
sion of the Hindus is impracticable, may be 
merely ignorant, and although, from their 
ignorance, entirely unfit at present to speak 
upon the subject, the removal of that ignor- 
ance may be the removal of all their pre- 
judices. With respect to those, who tell 
us, with an emphatic " indeed," that " the 
Hindus stand already higher than ourselves 



DUTY OF CHRISTIANS TO ENGAGE IN IT. 337 

in respect to general character," we extend 
to them our pity, and, as a matter of course, 
expect not their co-operation. Of the de- 
gradation of Hindu character, and the abo- 
minations, which characterise their idola- 
trous superstition, it has not been thought 
necessary to speak largely in this work, 
since there is such a mass of clear, consist- 
ent, and unimpeachable evidence, on that 
subject before the public, and with which 
every enquiring mind must be familiar. 
Nor shall these pages be polluted with any 
comparison of Christianity with Hinduism, 
nor the reader be insulted with what must 
prove so revolting to the ear of a good man. 

When adverting to the duty of endea- 
vouring to convert the millions of India to 
the faith of the Gospel, one cannot help 
recalling to mind the disscussions, which 
once agitated this country, with regard to 
the duty of abolishing the African slave 
trade. Gentlemen in the British Parlia- 
ment affirmed — without any symptom of 
shame— that to continue the slave trade 

Y 



338 PROMOTION OF THE GOSPEL IN INDIA. 

was the kindest thing we could do to A- 
frica ; and with regard to the slaves them- 
selves, " torn from home and all its plea- 
sures," the wretched victims of agony and 
despair, chained, driven with the lash, and 
often dying of the wounds, barbarously and 
wantonly inflicted on them, — with regard 
to them, we were told, that they were quite 
happy. Nay, when a doubt of the truth 
of such assertions has been hinted, these 
defenders of West-Indian barbarism, have 
been seen to redden into wrath. Youths 
of the present day wonder at the recital of 
these facts ; and marvel greatly that men 
would presume to speak so on British soil, 
of which the very touch communicates 
freedom to the slave. 

The following passage from the pen of 
Mr Boswell appears very extraordinary in 
these times. Speaking of Dr Johnson's 
sentiments on the subject, he adds : — " But 
I beg leave to enter my most solemn pro- 
test against his general doctrine with re- 
spect to the slave trade. For I will reso- 



DUTY OF CHRISTIANS TO ENGAGE IN IT. 339 

lutely say, — that his unfavourable notion of 
it was owing to prejudice, and imperfect or 
false information. The wild and danger* 
ous attempt, which has, for some time, been 
persisted in, to obtain an act of our legisla- 
ture, to abolish so very important and ne- 
cessary a branch of commercial interest, 
must have been crushed at once, had not 
the insignificance of the zealots, who vainly 
took the lead in it, made the vast body of 
planters, merchants, and others, whose im- 
mense properties are involved in that trade, 
reasonably enough suppose, that there could 
be no danger. The encouragement, which 
the attempt has received, excites my won- 
der and indignation ; and though some 
men of superior abilities have supported it, 
whether from a love of temporary popu- 
larity, when prosperous, or a love of gener- 
al mischief, when desperate, my opinion is 
unshaken. To abolish a status, which in 
all ages God has sanctioned, and man has 
continued, would not only be robbery to an 
innumerable class of our fellpw subjects., 



840 PROMOTION OF THE GOSPEL IN INDIA. 

but it would be extreme cruelty to the 
African savages, a portion of whom it saves 
from massacre, or intolerable bondage in 
their own country, and introduces into a 
much happier state of life ; especially now 
when their passage to the West Indies, and 
their treatment there, is (are) humanely 
regulated. To abolish that trade would be 
to 



shut the gates of mercy on mankind." * 



Such a passage is fitted now to excite 
simple astonishment. Animated by a spirit 
of blind rage, the author deals out as much 
abuse as he was capable of expressing. 
We have zealots, and their insignificance, 
and the love of temporary popularity and 
general mischief, which animated such as 
possessed any superiority of talent! On 
the other hand, we have the exquisite 
sweets of slavery ; and horror at the bare 
thought of shutting the gates of mercy on 

* Bos well's Life of Dr Samuel Johnson, vol. iii. p. 

221, '£2$; 



DUTY OF CHRISTIANS TO ENGAGE IN IT. 341 



mankind, which would bar their access to 
such unmingled happiness ! 

The youths of the next generation, we 
have no doubt, will read, with equal amaze- 
ment, of the opposition, which has been 
given to the communication of the Gospel 
to the natives of India; and of the hard 
names and contemptuous epithets, bestow- 
ed on those, who are the honour of our na- 
ture, and the bright examples of that holy 
and heavenly system, by which they would 
bless and exalt the w r hole world. 

In reference to the consistency of profes- 
sing Christianity, and being hostile to the 
extension of it to the inhabitants of any 
land, I shall take the liberty of suggesting 
to those more immediately concerned, the 
following striking and luminous passage 
from the pen of Dr Johnson. Though the 
letter, of which it is an extract, was written 
half a century ago, it bears so directly on 
this, and kindred questions, still agitated, 
that it is unnecessary to say any thing of 
the occasion by which it was prompted, 



342 PROMOTION OF THE GOSPEL IN INDIAo 

a I did not expect," says Dr Johnson, 
66 that it could be, in an assembly, conven- 
ed for the propagation of Christian know- 
ledge, a question, whether any nation, un- 
instructed in religion, should receive in- 
struction; or whether that instruction 
should be imparted to them by a transla- 
tion of the holy books into their own lan- 
guage. If obedience to the will of God be 
necessary to happiness, and knowledge of 
his will be necessary to obedience ; I know 
not how he that withholds this knowledge, 
or delays it, can be said to love his neigh- 
bour as himself. He that voluntarily con- 
tinues ignorance, is guilty of all the crimes, 
which ignorance produces ; as to him that 
should extinguish the tapers of a light- 
house might justly be imputed the cala- 
mities of shipwreck. Christianity is the 
highest perfection of humanity ; and as no 
man is good, but as he wishes the good of 
others, no man can be good in the highest 
degree, who wishes not to others, the 
largest measures of the greatest good* To 



DUTY OF CHRISTIANS TO ENGAGE IN IT. 343 

omit for a year, or for a day, the most ef- 
ficacious method of advancing Christianity, 
in compliance with any purposes, that ter- 
minate on this side of the grave, is a crime, 
of which I know not that the world has yet 
had an example, except in the planters of 
America, a race of mortals, whom I sup- 
pose no other man wishes to resemble." * 

These are the sentiments of a Christian, 
and sentiments, which no man being a 
Christian, can controvert. Persons, with 
whose feelings they do not coincide, may 
be assured, that they have yet the most 
valuable of all knowledge to acquire ; and 
the most pure and perfect sources of hu- 
man happiness yet to attain. Nor let it be 
said, that this assertion rests on the single 
authority of the individual, weak and im- 
perfect like themselves, whose hand now 
traces these lines, and must soon moulder 
in the dust. It rests on the experience 

* Letter to Mr William Drummond, Boswell's Life 
o£ Johnson, vol. ii. p, 28, 29* 



844 PROMOTION OF THE GOSPEL IN INDIA. 

and the testimony of millions, through 
many successive ages ; and if they believe, 
as they profess, that the Bible is a divine 
revelation, they must allow, in addition to 
all this, that it rests upon the authority of 
God himself, and that, in their opposition, 
they " may be found to fight even against 
God." . : 

Much were it to be wished, that to the 
immovable mass of co-incident facts, on 
which the excellence and divine origin of 
the Scriptures rest, the testimony of their 
own happy experience were added. Then 
would they understand what that was which 
rendered him, who was once the persecut- 
ing Saul of Tarsus, the heroic supporter of 
the cause, which it had been formerly his 
endeavour to destroy : which enabled him 
to encounter persecution, in every appal- 
ling form of danger and death, undismayed; 
and left not in his bosom a single desire or 
care, except what regarded his faithfully 
" testifying the Gospel of the grace of 
God." Then would these men understand 



DUTY OF CHRISTIANS TO ENGAGE IN IT. 345 

what is the principle, which has prompted, 
and what the benevolence, which has con- 
tinued and increased the mighty moral en- 
terprise of extending the Gospel over the 
whole world, till " the earth be full of the 
knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover 
the sea." 

Now, it is a thing of which no rational 
mind will require a proof, because it is evi- 
dent, from the very nature of the case, 
that no Christian can call the religion of 
Brahma, or any religion whatever, good, 
compared with his own. If he did so, in 
the sincerity of his heart, it is clear, that, 
now at least, he is not a Christian ; but — 
if attached to any religion— the votary of 
that other system, say, of Hinduism, which 
he considers good, compared with Christi- 
anity. From such persons, opposition to 
every effort for propagating the Gospel was 
to be expected, as a matter of course. 
What the friends of Christianity, accord- 
ingly, desire, is, to allow men to go to Hin- 
dustan, without discouragement, or obstruc- 



346 PROMOTION OP THE GOSPEL IN INDIA. 

tion ; and there, in the spirit of Heaven- 
born love and peace, to discuss the matter, 
and leave the issue to Him, whose cause 
they have espoused. But of the duty of 
him, who is a Christian, there can be no 
doubt. 

Were we satisfied, that the thing were 
impracticable, which is just another word 
for impossible, it would be evident folly to 
persevere. This point, however, has been 
largely considered ; and received, perhaps, 
more ample refutation, than the hardihood 
of the assertion merited, and the demon- 
strated ignorance (not to speak of other 
principles,) in which it originated. But, on 
the supposition, that we are reasoning with 
Christians, we must reply, that the lan- 
guage of magisterial dictation, to which we 
have alluded, betrays gross ignorance of 
the religion, which they themselves pro- 
fess ; and that, being ignorant of their own 
religion, we have good reason to infer their 
ignorance of that of the Hindus. For, in 
the book, which they profess to receive as 



DUTY OF CHRISTIANS TO ENGAGE IN IT. 34>1 

a divine revelation, we are assured, that a 
time is approaching, " when the kingdoms 
of this world shall," by the universal recep- 
tion of the Gospel, become " the kingdoms 
of our God, and of his Christ ;" and that it 
shall then be unnecessary to " teach every 
man his neighbour, and every man his bro- 
ther, saying, know the Lord ; for," it is 
added, " all shall know him from the least 
unto the greatest." — Now, if they be igno« 
rant of these truths, which is the only way 
we can view their opposition, as at all con- 
sistent with their being, in any degree 
Christians ; we must then renounce them 
as most ignorant and dangerous guides, on 
any subject, since they are so palpably de- 
ficient in the knowledge of that, which it 
imports them so much to know. 

With regard to the reception of the Gos- 
pel by the natives of India, then, the Chris- 
tian is convinced, that it is a thing which 
shall take place ; and, as he has been enjoin- 
ed by the highest authority to pray, " thy 
kingdom come !" so must he be satisfied of 



$4S PROMOTION OF THE GOSPEL IN INDIA, 

the duty of following up his prayers with his 
endeavours, as " a worker together with 
God," till the glorious period, long predict- 
ed, shall arrive, when love, and peace, and 
joy shall fill the universe, and when the re- 
stored bliss of Eden shall render this earth 
the emblem of heaven. 

i But let us advert to the evangelizing of 
India, as distinct from religious faith. Let 
us regard it in merely a philosophical light, 
and consider it in reference to the resist- 
ance offered, and the means proposed to 
overcome that resistance. General bene- 
volence, in that case, should prompt the 
endeavour, if it be practicable. 

Viewing the question in this aspect, we 
might begin, by demanding (as the enquiry 
would then be reduced to that concerning 
the practicability of the measure,) is human 
nature different in Hindustan from what it 
is in every other quarter of the globe ? Is 
the breast of the Hindu, alone, incapable 
of being moved by what has moved every 
one else ? — of being warmed and touched? 



DUTY OF GHHISTIANS TO ENGAGE IN IT. 349 

by what warms and touches all beside ?— 
Shall the Hindu remain unaffected by that, 
which, with the cords of heavenly love, 
drew our own savage ancestors from their 
Druid oaks, their bloody rites, and impious 
abominations ; and which, by the progress 
of its holy operation, has now rendered 
their descendants, the most distinguished, 
enlightened, and generous people, whom 
the air and the light of heaven visit ? — Has 
Brahma, a human being, with the weakness 
of other men, been able to frame and to 
impose a code, of which alone, of all earth- 
ly things, immutability may be predicated, 
which has resisted, and shall resist for ever 
more, all power human and divine? In 
short, is Hindustan peopled by a race of 
beings who have merely the shape of men, 
and nothing else that is human ? 

Unless all these questions be answered 
in the affirmative, we cannot, in fairness, 
be required to admit the impracticability of 
converting the natives of Hindustan to the 
Christian faith. If any man, heedless of 



i 



350 PROMOTION OF THE GOSPEL IN INDIA. 

the credit of his own understanding, should 
affirm these questions, we must refer him 
back, for a parallel to his wonders, to the 
days of Aulus Gellius, and of Pliny the 
elder. In their works he will read of men 
with one eye in the forehead, and of others 
without heads altogether. If he be pre- 
pared to affirm the above questions, he 
may be equally prepared to credit these 
tales. 

Till this question was agitated, it did not 
seem too sanguine to hope, that the time 
was blown by, when it should be necessary 
to prove, that the principles of human na- 
ture are every where originally the same. 
It was hoped, that the Christian traffickers 
in human blood, who told us, with the ex- 
pectation of being believed, that the Afri- 
cans are a species of brute beasts, incapable 
of improvement, should long ere now have 
ceased to obtain imitators. They may be 
assured, however, that their endeavours will 
have a similar issue. They have both mis- 



DUTY OF CHRISTIANS TO ENGAGE IN IT. 351 

taken the ground they occupy in this coun- 
try of thinking men and of Christians.* 

There is sufficient evidence before the 
reader, to convince any rational man, that 
not only is the conversion of the Hindus 

* In the allusions, which occur in the course of this 
work, to the abolition of the African slave trade, no 
reference is made to the late treaty with France, by 
which the continuance, or rather, the re-establishment 
of it for five years, has been permitted to that Power, 
The causes, in which that article originated, we have 
not yet learned ; and would therefore not be hasty in 
pronouncing upon them. Yet it does not seem harsh 
to say, that there were not, and that there could not 
be, any reasons, sufficient and satisfactory. That the 
cause of humanity should have thus been sacrificed by 
the dash of a pen; and so much shame and sorrow 
mingled with our national joy, our triumph, and our 
thanksgivings to Almighty God; is enough to make the 
blood of even a phlegmatic man to boil within him ! 
The British nation how looks to Lord Castlereagh to 
undo at Vienna, what he did at Paris. And, support- 
ed, and urged on as he is, by the burst of national 
feeling, to which the mournful, the bloody, and the 
sinful article gave rise, we trust he will never, — never 
abandon that point, which not only involves his own 
honour, but the honour, and, it may be added, the 
good faith of the British nation, as well as the cause 
of bleeding humanity, 



1 



552 PROMOTION OF THE GOSPEL IN INDIA. 

not impracticable, but that it does not pro- 
mise to be very difficult. Even on the ge- 
neral principle of benevolence, then, it be- 
comes the duty of every man, who does 
not hold the extravagant and insulting lan- 
guage, that the religion of Brahma is as 
good as our own, to attempt the commu- 
nication of what he admits to be good. 

Political interest calls upon our rulers to 
favour this good work. The formidable as- 
pect of the Sikh nation, extending its do- 
minion and its creed together, calls upon 
them to inspire the millions, whom they go- 
vern, with principles of attachment to them, 
stronger than at present exist. They have 
already done much for them, and thus in- 
creased the facility of doing more. Let 
them prove yet greater benefactors, by fa- 
vouring the introduction among them of 
the everlasting gospel. General benevo- 
lence points out this duty ; and the duty 
has been clearly acknowledged and strong- 
ly expressed by the mingling voices of many 
hundred of thousands of our countrymen, 



/ 



DUTY OF CHRISTIANS TO ENGAGE IN IT. 353 

which, from every corner of the land, have 
reached the legislature ; and called upon 
them, by every sacred consideration of duty, 
and even of interest, and of policy, in re- 
newing the Charter of the East India Com- 
pany, to provide the means of extending 
the blessing of Christianity to the inhabi- 
tants of these dark, distant, and immeasur- 
able regions, which Providence had subject- 
ed to their sway. Never was there a more 
universal expression of national feeling than 
on that occasion. The question was inves- 
tigated with the care which its importance 
demanded. To enter into any detail of the 
proceedings, would be entirely unneces- 
sary. The resolution so triumphantly car- 
ried in both Houses of Parliament, fully 
recognized the duty of promoting the gos- 
pel in India, # 

* In the House of Commons, 89 voted for the re- 
solution, and 36 against it, leaving in favour of it the 
great majority of 53. The resolution, having been 
duly communicated to the House of Lords, was soon 
(24th June 1813) brought under their consideration '? 

z 



$54f PROMOTION OF THE GOSPEL IN INDIA. 



The British nation, and the British le~ 
gislature, having now recognized the duty 
of promoting the gospel in India, Mission- 
aries can no longer be treated like pesti- 
lential innovators, as they have recently 
been. * 

and, to the honour of that Assembly, be it recorded, 
it passed through the Committee, and then through 
the House of Lords, without one dissenting, — with- 
out one disapproving voice I The petitions presented 
in favour of the measure were upwards of nine hun- 
dred in number. 

The Resolution is as follows : 

" That it is the duty of this country, to promote the 
interest and happiness of the native inhabitants of the 
British dominions in India, and that such measures 
ought to be adopted, as may tend to the introduction 
among them of useful knowledge, and of religious and 
moral improvement : That, in the furtherance of the 
above objects, sufficient facilities shall be afforded, by 
law, to persons desirous of going to, and remaining in 
India, for the purpose of accomplishing those benevo- 
lent designs. 

" Provided always, That the authority of the local 
governments, respecting the intercourse of Europeans 
with the interior of the country, be preserved, and 
that the principles of the British government, on which 
the natives of India have hitherto relied for the free 
exercise of their religion, be inviolably maintained." 

* From all the evidence before him, the author has 



DUTY OF CHRISTIANS TO ENGAGE IN IT. 355 

It is now the duty, recognized by the le- 
gislature, of all possessing power in India, 
to favour the means used for the dissemi- 
nation of sacred truth. It is the duty of 

been led to consider the Honourable the Court of Direc- 
tors, as, upon the whole, favourable to the promotion 
of the gospel in India. Facts evince that they were 
so, when it was a matter of choice with them. Cer- 
tainly we were not prepared, then, to expect an attempt 
at contrary measures from them, now that the iron 
hand of oppression has been restrained by the law. As 
the author has been laid under the obligations to the 
Honourable Court, which he has already acknowled- 
ged, he feels a reluctance, which nothing but a para- 
mount regard to truth could overcome, in introducing 
the following statement. If it be capable of an inter- 
pretation, different from the obvious one, (a thing 
which he is endeavouring to ascertain), it would afford 
him peculiar pleasure to do justice to the Honourable 
Court. It is highly gratifying to find the Board of 
Controul acting a part so worthy of men in power. 

" A respectful application was made to the Court of 
Directors of the Honourable the East India Company, 
for permission to send out Mr Yates ; but notwith- 
standing the facilities provided by a late act of Par- 
liament, they peremptorily refused it : and when the 
application was repeated, the refusal was also repeated. 
On application being made, however, to his Majesty's 
Government, permission was immediately granted. A 
letter of thanks was sent to the Right Honourable the 



356 PROMOTION OF THE GOSPEL IN INDIA. 

every Christian to contribute, as God has 
blessed and prospered him, to the means of 
the various associations which have for their 
object the accomplishment of this glorious 
work. A little of their substance, accom- 
panied by their fervent prayers, is all that, 
generally speaking, is required. Every one 
knows, also, that nothing can be managed 
with more economy, than the funds raised 
for the furtherance of the gospel in India 
and other places. Those, to whom the ap- 
plication of them is entrusted, are men ex- 
alted far above suspicion. They are wise 
and good men ; and among their number 
are the names of many distinguished by 
their political situations, their high rank, 

Earl of Buckinghamshire, President of the Board of 
Controul, for the candid and liberal treatment we had 
received from his Lordship relative to this business. 
Mr Yates left England in October" (1814) « in the 
Earl Moira, belonging to Captain Kemp, a member 
of the church at Serampore, and who generously fur- 
nishes a free passage for our young brother. " — Periodi- 
cal Accounts relative to the Baptist Missionary Society, 
No. xxvii. p. 406. 



I 



DUTY OF CHRISTIANS TO ENGAGE IN IT. 35*7 

and noble talents. The Reports, also, which 
are regularly published, not only inform us 
how the funds committed to them are ap- 
plied, but likewise inform us of the good 
that has resulted, or is likely to result, 
from the application. 

As it is impossible to imagine any true 
Christian, then, doubting of his duty, on 
this head, let the intensity of his ardour 
increase. Let one mighty emotion, ex- 
tending to all denominations of Christians, 
prompting them ever to keep in mind the 
great and essential matters, in which they 
agree, and to forget the comparative trifles, 
in which they differ, animate them more 
and more in the prosecution of a work, 
which is destined to fill the world with 
peace, which communicates joy to the an- 
gels in heaven, and is beheld with compla- 
cency and approbation by God himself, 

' 5 



858 PROMOTION OF THE GOSPEL IN .INDIA. 

SECTION FIFTH. 

Manner and Spirit, in which the attempt should be 
made and persevered in, till it be crowned with 
complete success. 

The success, with which the Gospel is 
offered to the natives of Hindustan, will, un- 
der the divine blessing, depend much upon 
the manner and the spirit, in which it comes 
recommended to them. Among the friends 
of the measure, there seems to be no dif- 
ference of opinion concerning the means to 
be employed in the accomplishment of their 
object. They belong, indeed, to various 
denominations of Christians ; but they are 
all characterised by that liberality, which 
induces them to merge the distinctions of 
party, in those grand and essential prin- 
ciples, which are common to them all. 

The establishment of schools for the in- 
struction of the young, the circulation of 
the Sacred Scriptures, and the labours of 



MANNER OF CONDUCTING IT. 359 

Missionaries, are the means which, for some 
time, have been in operation, and to which 
it does not appear, that any reasonable ob- 
jection can be made. Schools were esta- 
blished with success in the days of Swartz ; 
but it is obvious, that their efficiency must 
greatly depend upon the facility, with which 
copies of the Bible can be obtained in the 
native languages. The joint operation of 
these two means has but recently taken 
place ; and for the combination of them, to 
any extent, we are indebted to that noblest 
and most unexceptionable of human insti- 
tutions, the British and Foreign Bible So- 
ciety. Besides the direct instruction, which 
reading the Scriptures communicates, it is 
highly favourable to that spirit of enquiry, 
which is already so general among the na- 
tives of India, which is increasing with un- 
imagined celerity, and which is preparing 
the people for a more universal and happy 
change, than the silence of its operation, 

and particularly the impediments, with 

i 



360 PROMOTION OF THE GOSPEL IN INDIA. 

which, till lately, pious endeavours have 
been clogged, seemed to promise. 

The way in which education has been 
connected with reading the Scriptures, is 
imiexceptionable ; and exhibits nothing that 
can offend the natives. Many, according- 
ly, who are themselves Heathens, send 
their children to Christian schools, on ac- 
count of the learning to be there acquired. 
Heathen schoolmasters, also, are, in some 
cases, employed, to instruct the children in 
reading the Bible; and they have shown 
great readiness in satisfying the enquiries 
of persons concerning the Christian Scrip- 
tures. Of such procedure, the happy con- 
sequences have been often strikingly mani- 
fested. 

The other great mean, in addition to the 
circulation of the Scriptures, and the edu- 
cation of the young, to which we are to 
look for the accomplishment of this great 
and good end, are the labours of Mission- 
aries, ascertained, as far as may be, to be 
men of sincere piety, good sense, and dis- 



MANNER OF CONDUCTING IT, 361 

cretion. If possessed of acute minds, and 
a deep insight into the springs of human 
action, the pure benevolence and long-suf- 
fering under contradiction and disappoint- 
ment, which true religion inspires, with an 
indefatigable zeal for the salvation of men ; 
in short, if they be such men as are at pre- 
sent engaged in that holy work, we have 
nothing to fear, and much to hope, from 
their labours. We are not necessarily re- 
quired to identify the characters of those, 
whom we would send, with those who have 
been sent. To say, what has now been 
said, however, is a mere act of justice. 

With some, it has been very fashionable 
of late, to load the character of the Mis- 
sionary with a great deal of obloquy, and 
to exaggerate the slightest trifle in regard 
of expression, or of action, into a very seri- 
ous matter. Whatever is really deserving 
of blame, the true friend of Christianity will 
never defend. But it may be stated as a 
fact, which cannot be disproved, that never 
has less of human imperfection been known 



362 PROMOTION OF THE GOSPEL IN INDIA. 

to adhere to the characters of men, than 
has marked the Missionaries of India, of 
whatever denomination ; and that nothing 
can be charged home against them, beyond 
what might be fairly disputed as a matter 
of taste or opinion. 

The venerable and apostolic Swartz, was 
an example of the combination of every 
quality that could be desired in a Mission- 
ary. He has finished his bright career; 
and both the Company's government, and 
the natives of India, are reaping, in one way 
or another, the rich fruits of his labours- 
With no other means, than his known inte- 
grity and veracity, he accomplished what 
rulers, and generals, and armies attempted 
in vain. He found favour in the sight of all 
men, and he numbered among his converts, 
many persons distinguished for their ta- 
lents, high cast, and respectability. Those 
who now occupy the same field, have not 
been unworthy of succeeding him. The 
nature of their pursuits leads them to study 
the character and literature of the natives 



MANNER OF CONDUCTING IT. 36$ 

much more particularly than any other or- 
der of men ; and they have recently thrown 
a degree of light upon both, which redounds 
much to their own honour, and that of the 
cause in which they are engaged, as well as 
the nation to which they belong. Whe- 
ther that nation shall reap from their la- 
bours, the harvest of rich fruits which they 
are calculated to yield, must depend upon 
itself. 

To place this just testimony in favour of 
the Missionaries of India beyond the as- 
saults of ignorance, prejudice, or malignity, 
we shall here quote the statement of the 
Marquis of Wellesley, a Nobleman whose 
liberality, and knowledge of the subject, 
must silence every doubt in regard of it 
In an able and luminous speech, which he 
delivered, when the question was under the 
consideration of the legislature, he stated, 
in regard of Missionaries, that " he never 
knew of any danger arising from them* 
He never heard of any convulsions, or 
alarms produced by them. Some of them 



364> PROMOTION OF THE GOSPEL IN INDIA. 

were learned men, and had been employed 
in the College in Bengal. He had always 
considered them, as a quiet, orderly, dis- 
creet, and learned body ; and he had em- 
ployed them in the education of youth, and 
in translations, and more particularly in 
translating the Scriptures into the Eastern 
languages. He had issued no order, how- 
ever, for the dissemination of these transla- 
tions among the natives. He had thought 
it his duty to have the Scriptures translat- 
ed into the languages of the East, and to 
give the learned . natives, employed in the 
translations, access to the sacred fountains 
of divine truth. He thought that a Chris- 
tian Governor could do no less, and that a 
British Governor could do no more." # 

If an ideal picture of a Missionary had 
been drawn, and if any calumny could, at 

* Christian Observer for 1813, p. 266. — The reader 
will find some good papers on the subject of promoting 
the Gospel in India in the work now referred to, and in 
the Edinburgh Christian Instructor, particularly vol. viL 
p. 259, vol. viii. p. 32, p. 100. 



MANNER OF CONDUCTING IT. 365 

the same time, have been fixed upon those 
actually engaged in the work in India ; we 
should, no doubt, have been told, that we 
were to expect nothing better than we had 
experienced. It is highly gratifying, there- 
fore, to refer, upon the high authority now 
quoted, to the characters of those actually 
employed ; and to say, such are the men ? 
whom we wish to send from time to time, and 
in greater numbers, than we have been yet 
able to send them, to India, to bear to the 
natives, the unspeakable blessings of Chris- 
tianity, and all the humanization of cha- 
racter, and progress in learning, and the 
useful arts, of which Christianity has ever 
been the fruitful parent. 

We shall close these remarks, by advert- 
ing to the spirit, in which our endeavours 
to convert the natives should be conducted. 
The religion of Jesus naturally rejects every 
approximation to coercive measures ; and 
the most warm and zealous supporters of 
its extension in India, have never desired 
more in its favour than that it should be 



i 



$66 PROMOTION OF THE GOSPEL IN INDIA, 

permitted silently and peaceably to find its 
way to the understanding and the hearts of 
the people. It never was desired that our 
rulers in India should take any prominent 
and active part in favour of Christianity ; 
and certainly it is not too much to require 
of them, that they take none against it. 
The arms of the Christian warfare " are 
not carnal but spiritual." So far, however, 
as the personal example, and demeanor of 
our rulers can go as Christians, we have a 
right to expect their influence. We have 
a right to say, let not their conduct be such 
as to excite among the wondering natives 
the enquiries which have been actually put, 
66 Have the English any books, but those of 
amusement ? Have the English any kind 
of worship among them ?" We have a right 
to say, and the legislature now tells us that 
we have a right to say, let not the peaceful 
Missionary of Christianity be persecuted 
and treated as an evil-doer. All that we 
ask of men in power, then, is the absence 
of evil ; and that there be no infliction of 



MANNER OF CONDUCTING IT, 



S61 



punishment where there is no evidence of 
wrong. 

What we wish for the Missionary of 
Christianity, we wish also for the votaries of 
idolatry in India. Let all experience the 
blessings of a free and enlightened tolera- 
tion, admitting of no boundary but that of 
the safety of the subject, on the one hand, 
and of the state, on the other. Generally 
speaking, the government should know men 
in no other capacity than that of citizens 
or subjects. It is a principle of every en- 
lightened government, that in return for 
the protection and security, which it affords 
to the subject ; that subject owes to it, in 
return, the benefits, which his condition is 
fitted to yield to the state, during the natu- 
ral term of his life. If that period be abrid- 
ged by the violence of another, it is punish- 
ed; if by the individual himself, his me- 
mory is covered with infamy. So far, there- 
fore, as the rites of religion shall interfere 
with the claims of the state ; the govern- 
ment has a right to interpose its restraining 



868 PROMOTION OF THE GOSPEL IN INDIA. 

arm. This is a leading principle in the 
British Constitution, the best that ever 
human wisdom devised ; and it is of such 
easy comprehension, that its reasonable- 
ness is immediately perceived. On this 
principle, the Marquis of Wellesley put an 
end to the sacrifice of children at Saugur ; 
and there is little reason to doubt, that, had 
that Nobleman continued some time longer 
at the head of our Eastern empire, female 
immolations would ere now have been 
brought to a termination. It is probable 
that measures analogous to those adopted 
in the abolition of infanticide might answer 
the end. And under the distinguished No- 
bleman now at the head of our Eastern 
affairs, we look with hope. 

These remarks are connected with the 
subject, only in so far as they are suggest- 
ed by the true principles of an enlightened 
toleration, of which the only just limits 
are the lives and safety of the subject. On 
this principle no government should derive 
emolument from the performance of pik 



MANNER OF CONDUCTING IT. 369 

grimages, and the practice of any idola- 
trous rites ; far less should it sell to the 
subject the right of terminating his own 
existence by drowning, or any other means. 
' Within the limits now described, let 
every man's conscience direct him. If any 
man, Heathen, or professing Christian, be 
discovered to be an " evil-doer," let him 
receive the award of law; and of a law 
which knows no man's tenets, which inter- 
feres with /no man's conscience, which is 
incapable of distinguishing any thing but 
overt acts. It is natural, at the same time, 
and not inconsistent with what has now 
been stated, that the government should 
confide its offices of trust to men, whose 
sentiments are in unison with those of its 
own members. On this principle, the go- 
vernment is administered in Ceylon. As 
we should punish no man, who is not proved 
to be a bad citizen ; it is natural to con- 
fide our interests to those, whose principles 
afford us the greatest security for their 
probity. It is on such principles as these, 

2 a 



870 PROMOTION OF THE GOSPEL IN INDIA. 

indeed, that we found the reasonableness 
of an ecclesiastical establishment. 

But whatever be the principle, on whicb 
the government shall act, there is no doubt 
concerning the spirit which should animate 
the Missionaries. Conciliation and kind- 
ness, long-suffering and forbearance, should 
characterize their whole intercourse and 
procedure. With respect to the govern- 
ment, they should continue to act as they 
have hitherto done; and that is, to take no 
part whatever in regard of its measures, 
except when requested to employ the re- 
spectability attendant on the characters of 
good men, to promote the interests both of 
the natives and their rulers. The example 
of Swartz comprehends every thing. With 
instruction in Christianity, should be con- 
nected a regard to the temporal interests 
and comforts of the people. Improvements 
in the useful arts of husbandry, and others 
of an analogous nature, should be suggest- 
ed, along with the principles of religion. 
The natives should feel, as well as hear 2 



MANNER OF CONDUCTING IT* 371 

that we have their best interests at heart. 
Along with the principles, which shall pro- 
duce peace of mind and domestic comfort, 
together with the sweet hope of eternal 
life ; we should show them that we delight 
in seeing the amelioration of their temporal 
condition. Before they are able fully to 
enter into all the symmetry, if we be al- 
lowed the word, and the sublime doctrines 
of this heavenly system, we should present 
to them some of the happy results of it in 
the promotion of present benefits. Such 
are many of its precepts, which teach us 
to be diligent in " business, while we are 
fervent in spirit, serving the Lord." 

As the truth of the religion of Christ 
involves the falsehood of every other sys- 
tem, there is no compromise to be made 
of a single tenet or principle of it. The 
idolatry of Brahma, and the imposture of 
Mahomed, must be unequivocally avowedo 
This, however, may be done with discre- 
tion, and so as to cause no offence. And 
the promotion of Christianity has been, and 

L 1 
\ 

I 



312 PROMOTION OF THE GOSPEL IN INDIA, 

is so conducted. " Our method," says Mr 
Corrie, " is to state the plain truths of the 
Gospel, with little or no reference to any- 
other system called religion. By pointing 
out the scripture doctrines of man's fall, 
through the transgression of Adam, and 
his recovery by the Lord Jesus Christ, 
with appeals to matters of obvious and ge- 
neral experience ; usually such a sensa- 
tion is produced, as leads some one or other 
to examine the foundation he rests upon.' 9 
Such, then, is the manner, and such the 
spirit, in which we should proceed in the 
diffusion of the gospel in India. Let wis- 
dom, pure in its philosophical principles, 
and warmed and animated by heavenly 
love, guide and rule all our endeavours. 
And let Christian exertion never cease, till 
it be crowned with complete success. Let 
the arm that is stretched forth in the cause 
of heaven and of human kind, never be 
unnerved. Let the tongue never falter 
that speaks the message of God to men. 
Let not the ambassador of the King of 



MANNER OF CONDUCTING IT. 313 

kings, and the Lord of lords, ever tremble 
or be dismayed in the full, fair, and un- 
equivocal declaration of his commission. 
Let every friend of the measure, that is, 
every one who consistently claims the 
name of Christian, persevere in affording 
such assistance as is in his power, unmo- 
ved by the coldness, or it may be ridicule, 
with which some men may treat his exer- 
tions. Let every one, who believes the 
Bible to be the word of God, remember, 
that it is upon its indisputable authority 
that we found our firm conviction, that this 
cause will, and must finally prevail, and 
that " the whole earth shall be full of the 
knowledge of the Lord as the waters co- 
ver the sea." And let our hearts be ani- 
mated in the midst of occasional discou- 
ragement, disappointment, or opposition, 
by remembering, that " Greater is he 

THAT IS WITH US, THAN ALL THEY THAT CAN 
BE AGAINST US." 



t 



APPENDIX. 



APPENDIX. 



No. I. 

Correspondence between Colonel Walker and 
the Jahrejah Chiefs, on the subject of 
abolishing Female Infanticide. 

1. Extract of a Letter from Major Alexander 
Walker, to Sunderjee Sewajee, dated Camp at 
Gootoo, ISth September, 1807. 

Another indispensible article is, the relinquish- 
ment of the custom of female infanticide. 

This is a concession to the Company ; it is ne- 
cessary to ensure their regard, and will render 
the character of Jehajee illustrious, for abolishing 
a practice, which all civilized people so strongly 
condemn. 

2. Extract of a Letter from Sunderjee to Major 

Walker ; dated 20th September, 1807. 

The state of affairs here, are, that having had 
an interview with Jehajee Thakur, some time 

4} 



APPENDIX. 



elapsed in making him acquainted with my mes- 
sage ; by his answer, it appeared, that the relin- 
quishment of infanticide will not compose an ar- 
ticle of the Fil Zamine ; but he will give a se- 
parate writing to this effect into my hand, pro- 
vided you will cause the village which Babajee 
has taken, to be restored when you leave the 
country to go to Baroda ; then his consent to the 
relinquishment of infanticide is given. 

3. Extract of a Letter from Major Alexander 
Walker, to Sunderjee Sewajee, dated 20th Sep- 
tember 3 1807. 

In respect to the Thakur Jehajee, I am very 
sorry to observe, that the full assurances, which 
I gave you and Bhanjee Mehta, have been lost. 
I did not expect the objections, which have been 
made, and all the trouble which I have taken 
may now prove fruitless. 

The relinquishment of the custom of infanti- 
cide must be unconditional ; it must be clear and 
from the heart, and without any reservation. 
The advantages to the Rajah would be many, 
besides those arising from humanity, from reli- 
gion, and from the natural affection of parents 
to children: It will ensure him the friendship 
and favour of the Company's government. 

The Thakur must not expect the friendship 
of the Company, if he continues this practice, 
and nothing will be ceded on this point to induce 



APPENDIX, 



319 



him. It must be relinquished, as the only terms 
on which the Honourable Company's favour and 
friendship can be obtained ; but there is no ob- 
jection to the engagement to relinquish it being 
expressed in a separate paper. 

Since writing the above, I have received your 
second note : but its contents cause no alteration 
in the sentiments I have above written, further 
than, you may tell the Rajah, that I do not know 
how the Honourable Company can become bhan- 
derry for any civil obligation of men, who appear 
to disregard the most sacred of all obligations — - 
that of protection to offspring. 

4. Translation of a Letter from Sunderjee Sewa- 
jee 9 to Major Alexander Walker, dated 20th Sep- 
tember, 1807. 

I related, this morning, the conversation I had 
yesterday with the Thakur Jehajee, with which 
you will have become acquainted. At present, 
the mother of the Thakur, with the brethren of 
the Rajah, having assembled, they represented, 
that the relinquishment of female infanticide will 
be agreed to, by us, according to the conditions, 
to which Rao Saheb, of Kutch, and Jam Saheb, 
may agree to ; before them, nothing will be con- 
cluded by us. 

If Major Walker should cause the village 
taken by Babajee to be restored, — it is well, — 
otherwise he is a free agent ; but according to 



380 



APPENDIX. 



the adjustment which Rao and Jam may make, 
not to commit infanticide, we will agree. 

The same day, a note, of which the following 
is a translation, was received from the Thakur 
Jehajee. 

5. From Jahrejah Jehajee, to Major Walker, dated 
4th Bhadurpud Vud, 2 1st September, 1807. 

" You have often urged me to adopt some 
cause to preserve my daughters, and I am con- 
vinced you look upon me as your own, when you 
desire me to do this ; but the Jahrejahs have, 
from ancient times, killed their daughters, and I 
cannot set a new example first. 

" I am much annoyed by Mallia ; if, therefore, 
you reduce Mallia, and keep it subject to the 
Company, or give it to me, as well as restore 
Hurralla : if you should favour me so much, my 
present distress will be removed, and I will meet 
your wishes in preserving my daughters. This 
is my petition. 

6. From Sunderjee Sewajee, to Major Alexander 

Walker, dated 22d September, 1807. 

Having arrived at Moorbee, and had an inter- 
view with the Rajah, until I saw that no clear 
answer could be obtained, without threats, not- 
withstanding that, according to the best of my 
ability, I used both soothing and warm language ; 



APPENDIX. 



SSI 



yet I grasped the wind, and nothing but dregs 
remained in the cup. The arrangement respect- 
ing the children, in particular, appeared help- 
less. 

7. From Sunder jee Sewajee, to Major Walker, 

dated 23d September, 1807. 

I yesterday wrote the particulars of my inter- 
view with the Thakur, and his refusal to relin- 
quish infanticide. 

Affairs are thus : — That what I yesterday 
wrote, is still the language of to-day ; therefore 
favour me with an answer to yesterday's and the 
present communication, for to wait longer with- 
out effect, would be discreditable ; but I am sub- 
ject to orders. 

8. From Major Alexander Walker, to Sunder jee 

Sewajee, dated 23d September, 1807. 

Your notes of yesterday and to-day are both 
received, and understood ; I delayed to answer 
the first, in expectation of the second, I have 
now the pleasure to send you two letters, one to 
the Rajah and one to his mother ; that to the 
Rajah being delivered first, observe what effect 
it has, and then, if you think it will prove of any 
use, deliver the other to his mother. 

If this should induce any alteration in the Ra- 
jah's mind, you will, of course, make the most of 
it ; but if it do not, we can only regret, that our 



582 APPENDIX. 

efforts should be unattended with the effect we 
wished. 

It will, however, be still proper to keep open 
the gate, so that this business may be hereafter 
resumed ; and you may therefore suggest to the 
Rajah, the propriety of answering my letter, in 
terms of friendship, with this view. 

9. From Major Walker, to the Rajah of Moorhee, 
Dated 23d September, 1807. 

i 

I have learnt, with much dissatisfaction, from 
the respectable Sunderjee Sewajee, that notwith- 
standing the assurances, which I have given him 
and Bhanjee Mehta, that you still continue to 
persist in refusing to contract an engagement to 
relinquish female infanticide. 

If the custom is a bad one, it cannot require 
any person's example to leave it off; if it is a; 
good one, no person's example ought to be suf- 
ficient to cause its abolishment. 

But it is universally allowed to be unnatural, 
and against your religion, and the objections you 
urge against it are unbecoming your rank and 
situation. The friendship and favour of the 
Company, can only be procured by leaving off a 
practice so contrary to the usage of mankind. 

I am well disposed to serve you, but my sup- 
port to you must depend on your's to the cause 
of humanity. 

On this subject, and on the adjustment of your 



APPENDIX. 



future Jamma, hear the advice of Sunderjee, to 
whom I have communicated my sentiments. 

10. From Major Walker, to the Mother of J ah- 
rejah Jehajee, of Moorbee 9 dated 23d September, 
1807. 

The army being in the neighbourhood of Moor- 
bee, I have unavoidably learnt a number of cir- 
cumstances, and I have heard of your wisdom 
and prudence with great pleasure. 

The Sircar is very anxious, that the very cruel 
custom of female infanticide should be abolished 
by your advice and assistance. Do you, there- 
fore, by every means in your power, endeavour 
to persuade your son to desist from this practice. 
I hope you will labour in this affair, for it is very 
unnatural for a mother to allow her own off- 
spring to be put to death. 

Your father and your mother have nursed and 
brought you up ; wherefore then should it hurt 
you to rear up your daughters ? Should you not 
do as I request, what answer can you return to 
your God ? 

Should you fully consider this business, you 
will perfectly observe the impropriety of it. 

Should other casts do as the Jahrejahs, how 
could the Jahrejah race exist ? 

What more can I write ? 



APPENDIX. 



11. From Sunder jee Sewajee, to Major Alexander 

Walker, dated 2Uh September, 1807. 

Your kind letter, with its two inclosures, with 
which you favoured me, arrived in proper time. 
They were both delivered. After four hours 
had elapsed, the Thakur came to my quarters, 
and appeared very submissive ; but although I 
pushed the point as far as possible, he never con- 
sented to abandon the practice of infanticide ; 
but he said thus much, " that whatever Jam 
may conclude in this business, it has also my con- 
sent. Before that, I cannot engage for any 
thing, therefore let this subject be dropt; but 
the Company are powerful." 

12. From Major Walker, to Sunder jee Sewajee, 

dated 24<th September, 1807. 

I have received your letter, and I understand 
its contents ; but to day being Wittepad,* which 
is an unlucky day, I therefore am unable to write 
a particular answer until tomorrow ; I beg you to 
wait. Still I request you will not slacken your 
endeavours, until you have accomplished the 
point of obtaining a renunciation of infanticide. 

This object is for the good of Thakur Jehajee, 

* Wittepad, an unlucky day in the Hindu Calendar, in 
consequence of which the officer commanding the Guicawar 
troops did not come to camp. 



APPENDIX. 885 

and your reputation will be increased in the 
opinion of Mr Duncan by gaining it. 

13. From Jahrejah Jehajee of Moorbee to Major 
Walker, dated 24*th September, 1807. 

Your letter, Sir, I have received, in which it 
is written, to rear up and protect our daughters ; 
but the circumstances of this case are, that, from 
time immemorial, the Jahrejahs have never reared 
their daughters, nor can it now be the case. 
This is my petition. 

My situation and circumstances are all known 
to you, Sir; and I now, Sir, with folded arms, 
make my petition, — that if, Sir, you will continue 
to observe the same course of favour towards me 
as you have hitherto done, I may then hope to 
secure my ends, and to meet the demands upon 
me. I have agreed to a sum of jammabandy, 
even beyond my actual means, and let your pro- 
tection so extend, that I may be able still to 
walk with rectitude, and be able to pay my dues. 

From the Mother of Jehajee to Major Walker. 

Your letter has been received, and its contents 
understood. You have called upon Hoer Jeha- 
jee to rear up his daughters ; but it is so, that, for 
many years past, none of the Jahrejah tribes have 
ever reared their female offspring. Further par- 
ticulars of this concern, you will learn from Hoer 
Jehajee's writing ; and you must excuse him on 

2b 



386 



APPENDIX. 



this score. As Hoer Jehajee has attached him- 
self to you/ let his jammabandy be so settled, 
that his credit will be preserved. 

14. From Major Walker to Sunder jee Sewajee, 

dated 25th September, ] 807. 

Should any thing wear a favourable appear- 
ance, I request you will let me know. The for- 
mer and strong aversion to renounce infanticide, 
appears now to be less. 

Do you, on this account, keep Thakur Jehajee 
assured of my friendship. 

15. From Major Alexander Walker to Sunder jee 

Sewajee, dated 25th September, 1807. 

I have received your note, and understood its 
contents ; but I request you will again take the 
trouble to explain to the Rajah Jehajee my con- 
cern, at the difficulty, which appears to exist to 
persuade him, and the obduracy, with which he 
resists every argument to relinquish the practice 
of female infanticide. 

What can induce the Honourable Company to 
make such efforts ; and what can induce me to 
request from you the utmost exertion of your 
abilities in this respect, except the cause of hu- 
manity ; and the desire of the Honourable Com- 
pany to put a stop to a practice, which will re- 
dound to the advantage and credit of the Rajah 
Jehajee ? 



APPENDIX. 



387 



16. From Sunder jee Sewajee to Major Alexander 
Walker, dated 26th September, 1807. 

Your letters of the third and second days past, 
have been received ; the second, at about eight 
o'clock at night, when the Thakur was with me, 
who saw the Peon. Before I received this letter, 
I had been engaged, in strong conversation, with 
the Thakur, but without effect. The difficulty 
still remains ; and this practice will not be re- 
linquished by the Thakur Jehajee. " Whatever 
Jam agrees to, I will," and that which I before re- 
ported, the same is still dwelt upon. What was 
communicated by you, saying, that, should the 
Thakur agree to relinquish the practice of infan- 
ticide, it would be a source of advantage to him, 
and the cause of increase of reputation to me in 
the opinion of Mr Duncan ; but, Sir, your servant 
has come to Moorbee, solely on the Honourable 
Company's account ; and, in whatever he may at- 
tempt, he is not that person who will not exert 
his best ability. Other business has arrived at a 
point of conclusion ; but to the infanticide re- 
linquishment, consent is not procurable ; and my 
further detention here is unnecessary; but as 
you say, that, owing to the rain, the Dewanjee had 
not arrived, but that I should receive an answer 
to-day, I accordingly await its arrival. Pray fa- 
vour me with it before the close of the day. 

If the relinquishment of infanticide is a ques- 



V 



88& APPENDIX. 

tion assuredly to be effected by the Company, its 
accomplishment must be effected by force, which 
would be but advisable and proper. But in fu- 
ture, whatever is your pleasure, I am your ser- 
vant, and your orders, whatever they may be, will 
be conformed to. 

17. From Jahrejah Jahejee, dated 21st October, 

1807. 

From motives of friendship, the Honourable 
Company are urging me to preserve my daugh- 
ters. To this I agree, if the Nowanaggur and 
Gondal Wallas agree ; if they do not preserve 
them, I will not do it 



APPENDIX 



B39 



No. II. 

Engagement of the Jahrejah Chiefs to re- 
linquish Female Infanticide. 

The following is a Translation of this Instrument 

** Whereas the Honourable English Company, 
and A mind Row Guicawar Sena Khaskel Sum- 
slier Bahader, having set forth to us the dictates 
of the Shasters, and the true faith of the Hindus; 
as well as, that the Brahma-riaiverteka Purana 
declares the killing of children to be a heinous 
sin ; it being written, that it is as great an of- 
fence to kill an embryo as a Brahmin ; that to 
kill one woman is as great a sin as a hundred 
Brahmins ; that to put one child to death is as 
great a transgression against the divine laws, as 
to kill a hundred women ; and that the perpe- 
trators of this sin shall be damned to the hell 
Kulesootheela, where he shall be infested with 
as many maggots as he may have hairs on his 
body ; be born again a leper, and debilitated in 
all his members : We Jahrejah Dewajee and 
Hoer Nathu, Zemendars of Gondal, the custom 
of female infanticide having long prevailed in our 
cast, do hereby agree, for ourselves, and for our 



390 



APPENDIX. 



offspring, as also, we bind ourselves in behalf of 
our relations, and their offspring, for ever, for the 
sake of our own prosperity, and for the credit of 
the Hindu faith ; that we shall, from this day, 
renounce this practice, and in default of this, 
that we acknowledge ourselves offenders against 
the Sircars. Moreover, should any one in future 
commit this offence, we shall expel him from our 
cast, and he shall be punished according to the 
pleasure of the two Governments, and the rule 
of the Shasters. 

se The above writing is duly executed." 



APPENDIX. 



391 

i 



No. III. 

Correspondence with Fatteh Mahomed, rela- 
tive to the abolition of Female Infanticide in 
Kutch. 

Letter from Major Walker to Fatteh Mahomed, 
dated 28th September, 1807. 

It is now a long time since I had the pleasure 
of hearing from you ; it is proper, that, in contra- 
diction to the past, you should favour me with 
friendly letters. 

The object of my present writing to you is, to 
disclose a plan, which the Honourable Company 
are very desirous of seeing adopted, and which 
would redound to your credit and honour. 

It is known to you, that the tribe of Jahrejah 
Rajputs, who are very numerous in the country 
of Kutch, do not rear their female offspring, but, 
under the blind influence of prejudice, suffer their 
female infants to be destroyed in their child- 
hood. 

This practice is no less contrary to the laws of 
the Gospel, than it is to the precepts of the Ko- 
ran ; and it is also equally and fully prohibited 
in the Shasters and ordinances of the Hindus, 
which the Jahrejahs ought to respect. 



092 



APPENDIX. 



Then you will observe, that no motive of am- 
bition, interest, or advantage, can prompt the 
Honourable Company to wish to see a practice 
so contrary to every law abolished. 

Their desire, in this respect, can arise solely 
from humanity, and a wish to inspire the tribe 
of Jahrejahs with that affection for their female 
offspring, which parents ought to possess. 

But what argument can be necessary to prove 
to you, the advantage and credit which will at- 
tend your co-operating in this useful and humane 
attempt, to which you are invited by every con- 
sideration of humanity and religion ? 

Your effectual aid and assistance in this re- 
spect, will secure the respect and consideration 
of all persons, and I feel a confidence, that you 
will exert your best endeavours. 

Accordingly, as his Highness Rao Saheb is the 
senior of all the tribes of Jahrejahs, it is highly 
probable, that all this tribe will not hesitate to 
follow an example, that is set them by the head 
of the family ; especially, as they do not appear 
averse to it in other respects, and some of them 
have laudably broke through the custom. 

To make this custom, however, universal, it 
requires, that it should be formally renounced, 
and that the separate independent heads of the 
Jahrejah families should give some public docu- 
ment of its abolition. 

I have therefore written, upon this occasion, a 



APPENDIX. 393 

letter to his Highness Rao Saheb, and trust, that 
his answer may be in conformity to the above, 
and be productive of the very desirable result of 
terminating the practice of infanticide. 

From Major Walker to Rao Saheb, Rajah of 
Kutch, dated 3d October, 1807. 

In these parts, it is represented, that all is well ; 
gratify me, by writing me accounts of your wel- 
fare ; and in the terms of friendship, that subsist 
between you and the Honourable Company. 

Just now, whatever is most profitable to your 
interest, and to the welfare of your family and 
race, in the opinion of the Honourable Company, 
has been written to Fatteh Mahomed, and that 
respectable and worthy person will disclose the 
whole to you for your consideration. I am satis- 
tied, that you will reply conformably to the wishes 
of the Honourable Company's government, and 
friendship will, from this cause, be much increas- 
ed. 

From Fatteh Mahomed, J emadar, to Major Walker, 
without date, received c 2\st October. 

(After compliments, and recapitulating" the 
contents of Major Walker's letter to him, which, 
he states having received at a fortunate moment, 
and that it afforded him much pleasure, it pro- 
ceeds,) 

It is notorious, that since the Avatara of Sri 



394} 



APPENDIX. 



Krishna, these people, (the Jahrejahs,) who are 
descended from the Jadus, have, during a period 
of 4900 years, been in the habits of killing their 
daughters ; and it has no doubt reached your 
knowledge, that all of God's creation, even the 
mighty Emperors of Hindustan, Shah Jehan, Au- 
rungzebe, and Ackbar, who have successively 
reigned in Hindustan ; those of Khorasan, and 

Iran, and the Rajahs of the four quarters of Hin- 
dustan ; besides all others, the conductors of the 
affairs of this world, who have existed from time 
to time, have always preserved friendship with 
this court, and never acted in this respect (female 
infanticide) unreasonably. 

Even the king of the world, who is protected 
by God, the king of Rum, descended from a long 
line of illustrious ancestors, who have reigned 
over that country from the earliest time, and in 
whose dominions is situated the inestimable and 
glorious Mecca, never once thought of putting a 
stop to the custom, which prevails among the Jah- 
rejahs, of killing their daughters ; but, on the 
contrary, has preserved friendship at all times 
with this Durbar; and merchants, possessing 
lacks of wealth, belonging to his country, reside 
here : and people of equal wealth, of this coun- 
try, are there ; but he never once uttered any 
thing on this subject. 

But you, who follow the paths of the king, 
and who are an Amir of the great Sirkar 5 the 



APPENDIX. 



395 



Honourable Company having written me on this 
subject, I have derived much uneasiness ; for it 
does not accord with your good character. 

You should reflect, that though the authority 
of many Kings and Rajahs, the King of Rum ex- 
cepted, has decayed or passed into the hands of 
others, still the Government of this country has 
remained unmoved, from the period of the Ava- 
tara of Krishna till this day ; and this country 
contains so many brothers of one heart, descend- 
ed from a common parent, as is not to be found 
in any other quarter; but they have not, to this 
day, departed from the habit of female infanti- 
cide. They have, however, approved of two 
good customs : 1 st, In this country neither birds 
or animals are killed, goats excepted, and but 
few even eat them ; and 2d, Charitable places 
for Fakirs, going and coming from Mecca, and 
Hindus performing pilgrimages, are so strongly 
planted, that they suffer no annoyance. 

This Durbar has always maintained friendship 
beyond bounds with the Sirkar of the Honourable 
Company, and notwithstanding this, since you 
have acted so unreasonably in this respect, I am 
much distressed. 

God is the giver, and God is the taker away ; 
if any one's affairs go to ruin, he must attribute 
his fortune to God. No one has, until this day, 
wantonly quarrelled with this Durbar, who has 
not, in the end, suffered loss. This Durban 



396 APPENDIX. 

wishes no one ill, nor has ever wantonly quarrel- 
led with any one. Every thing that may happen 
is from God. I bow obedient. Do not again 
address me on this subject. 

From Major Walker to Fatteh Mahomed, dated 

9th January, 1808. 

The Honourable Company's government, im- 
pressed with horror at the inhuman practice of 
female infanticide, in existence among the Jah- 
rejah tribe, was induced to*take measures to put 
a stop to it. 

The designs of great men are always in con^ 
cordance with the secret will of the Divinity, 
and that secret assistance of the Omnipotent, 
which (praise to his name !) always attends the 
victorious standards of the army of the Honour- 
able Company, has, in this instance, in a short 
period, crowned the wishes of their government 
with success, and extended and confirmed their 
reputation for humanity. 

The fame of the great character which you 
bear in the country of Kutch for humanity, and 
your love of justice, has not remained a secret to 
me. Do you, my friend, put a stop to the cus- 
tom of infanticide in Kutch, and you will perpe- 
tuate that name by an act, which will ever be re- 
membered with delight ; and be assured, the re- 
ward of so good an action will await you in the 
other world. I am fully satisfied, that you will 



APPENDIX. 



397 



exert your utmost influence to do away this hor- 
rid practice, and thereby entitle yourself to the 
gratitude of your fellow mortals, and the most 
perfect bless in the next world : for the Almighty 
has bestowed on you the power to do this. 

I have heard, that all the Jahrejahs who have 
become converts to Islamism, have renounced this 
practice. True it is, that it is contrary to the 
dictates of Mahomed, and the religion of Jesus 
Christ, as well as the sayings of the Purans and 
Shasters of the Hindus ; indeed it is, according to 
all these, the most heinous crime and sin. 

I feel a strong desire to write you much at 
length on this subject ; but to the wise, a hint is 
enough. 

My friendship requires me to desire you always 
to write me accounts of your welfare, and of the 
advancement you may make in the attainment of 
the object of my present letter. 

From Fatteh Mahomed, J emadar, to Major Walker, 
without date, translated 13th February, 1808. 

Your other letter is expressive of the grief of 
the Honourable Company, on account of the hor- 
rid practice of female infanticide among the Jah- 
rejahs ; and stating, that you would derive much 
pleasure from the abolition of this custom, which 
you have urged, on account of the friendship, 
which subsists between this Sirkar and the Com- 
pany, and supported by several arguments, well 



898 



APPENDIX. 



composed, from the perusal of all which, I have 
derived much pleasure. 

The reputation of your Government, and of 
mine, are now long established ; and this is 
known to the whole world, and, God be praised, 
it will daily increase. 

Previous to this, I wrote you on the subject of 
female infanticide, and from that you must have 
learned every thing. What can I now say on 
this subject ? for this custom has prevailed for 
5000 years, since the incarnation of Krishna. 
And thus it has been, and is now practised. 

This is not a practice confined to a few, that 
it can be dispensed with. Every one, also, who 
wishes to nourish his daughter, is at full liberty ; 
and he who wishes to kill them, at their birth, 
has full powers so to do. 

In this world, none of the Kings of the seven 
countries, occupying the four quarters of the 
world, or the Kings of Arabia and Ajum, who 
have reigned in this world, have ever written on 
this subject ; but, on the contrary, have always 
preserved the connections of friendship. And 
this Government has, with these kings and ru- 
lers, always maintained amity, which I also pre- 
serve ; and it is not fit with true friends, such as 
we are, constantly, on this subject, to create any 
ground of uneasiness. 

It is the decree of Heaven ; God the merciful, 
the King of the two worlds, be praised ! every 



APPENDIX. 



399 



one is pleased with his own faith. On this ac- 
count, and as the Jahrejahs are the relations and 
brothers of Maha Rao Saheb, and I am an ad- 
herent of his Durbar, it is not proper for me to 
say any thing on the subject to the Jahrejahs, 
and it would not have effect, nor ever will. 

Therefore, this business excepted, I beg you 
will write me on any other, that I may, from per- 
forming it, show to you my regard, from which 
we will derive mutual advantages ; and to say 
more than this to a person of your wisdom, would 
be as foolish as to teach knowledge to Tukman. 



Extract Bombay Political Consultations, the 

Tith March, 1811. 

Extract Letter from Fatteh Mahomed, dated 1 5th 

January, 1811. 

With regard to what you have urged, founded 
not only upon the doctrines of Islamism and 
Christianity, but also upon the religious institutes 
of the Hindus, against the custom of the destruc- 
tion of females, as in practice among the Jahrejah 
Thakurs, I have read what you have stated on 
the subject of this horrid cruelty. Truly, the 
mediation of those, whom God has exalted, are 
derived from supernatural inspiration. The truth 
is, that, among the Jahrejahs, descended from the 



400 APPENDIX. 

Jaroo tribe, the practice of female destruction 
has been handed down from generation to gene- 
ration, for the last five thousand years. It con- 
stitutes, in fact, nothing new. Some do not 
practice it, whilst others do, at the birth. Every 
person is vain of his own faith, as the Almighty 
has declared. Every tribe is gratified with its 
own tenets ; and in the chapter of the " Beekrut" 
is the following divine saying : " When you shall 
have witnessed the good, as well as the evil, of 
any particular religion, there will be found to 
exist nothing disgusting therein ;" and hitherto 
no attempt has been made, since the world has 
been divided into four quarters, and subdivided 
into seven distinct religions, by any Persian or 
Arabian Sovereign, who has flourished on earth, 
to interdict the custom among the chieftains in 
question ; and it cannot be unknown to you, that 
this class of people are either connected by the 
ties of brotherhood, or by relationship, with his 
Highness the Muha Row, my master, (may his 
shadow be extended !) and it must be accordingly 
inexpedient and improper in me, who have been 
cherished by his Highness, to discuss this ques- 
tion with the Jahrejah people, in concurring with 
the following divine command : — " It will not be 
competent to you to bring into the right path 
every person, to whom you may be attached, 
though the Almighty be able to direct in the 
way of truth whomsoever he wishes." This 

5 



APPENDIX, 401 

point, therefore, excepted, I request you will un* 
reservedly command my services, in this quarter, 
on all suitable occasions ; and I shall discharge 
the duties of a good wisher in the accomplish- 
ment thereof; not doubting, at the same time, 
that you will always consider me as one of those 
who desire you well, and afford me the pleasure 
of your correspondence, such as I shall esteem 
the height of human felicity. 

Extract of a Letter from the Honourable Jonathan 
Duncan, Esq. Governor of Bombay , to Fatteh 
Mahomed, Jemadar, dated 25th March, 1811. 

I have of late had the pleasure of receiving a 
letter from you, on the subject of the fortunate 
consequences that attended the deputation of 
the late most worthy character, Captain Green- 
wood, to IVlundavy ; and respecting your reluc- 
tance to interpose for the prevention of the ne- 
farious observance of female infanticide, as be- 
ing a long established custom, that has prevailed 
among the Jahrejahs of your quarter, and of 
which, although you cannot yourself but disap- 
prove, you wish to decline interfering in, for fear 
of giving offence to your superiors. You should, 
however, consider, what a high religious merit 
you must acquire, in the sight of the Almighty, 
by proving the happy means of putting an end 
to so immoral and detestable a practice, as must, 
- by all the world, be acknowledged to be, the one 

( i c 



402 



APPENDIX, 



here alluded to, and which might gradually be 
suppressed, and, in time, entirely rooted out, by 
pursuing the same conciliatory means, for that 
purpose, as was followed three years ago, in 
Kattywar, by the respectable Colonel Walker, 
who, after some amicable discussion, obtained, 
under the instructions of this Government, writ- 
ten agreements and obligations from all the Jah- 
rejah chieftains in that region, to abandon so 
abominable a custom, in like manner as I had 
previously done, two-and-twenty years ago, from 
the Rajput tribe of Raj-Koomars, in the Zilla of 
Juanpore, in the province of Benares, since which 
the acts of these Raj-Koomars have remained 
unsullied, with such barbarous and unnatural 
deeds, as the murder of their own offspring. 

I inclose a translation of the engagement, which 
these Raj-Koomars, on that account, entered into, 
under date the 17th December, 1789 ; and the 
respectable Captain Carnac, Resident at Raroda, 
will forward a transcript of the engagement to 
the same effect, entered into with Colonel Walker 
by the Jahrejahs of Kattywar. Both which 
writings I recommend your confidentially impart- 
ing, together with copies of my former and pre- 
sent letters to you, on this important subject, to 
some of the most discreet of the head men of that 
tribe in Kutch, and on whom, I cannot doubt, 
the perusal and consideration thereof, will pro- 
duce a salutary effect, and awaken their feelings 



APPENDIX. 



403 



to a sense of the murderous habitudes, to which 
they and their ancestors have been thus long 
inured, such as I cannot suppose they will desire 
to persevere in, after knowing, that it had been 
relinquished by so many of their brethren, both 
in the West and in the East, when they can, I 
trust, no longer desire to continue the solitary 
instance of such atrocity. In which case the Al- 
mighty will no doubt forgive the past, as being 
founded in their ignorance, and in those preju- 
dices of education, which it is difficult in all coun- 
tries to get the better of ; whereof, if they wil- 
fully persist thus to put their own infants, syste- 
matically to death, in defiance of the salutary 
example set to them by their brethren, it is to 
be dreaded, that the divine vengeance may one 
day overtake them, and their country, in like 
manner, as the history of other nations contains 
marked manifestations of such as, I hope, they 
will arrest in time, and seasonably shield them- 
selves from, by the renunciation thus solicitously 
desired of them. Nor can you, in particular, per- 
form a service so agreeable to me, as by contri- 
buting, by all the weight of your own influence, 
to the attainment of an object so highly interest- 
ing to humanity, respecting which, I shall there- 
fore wait your further report, * with an anxiety 
proportionate to the importance of the reforma- 
tion thus in view. 

* Not received,, 



APPENDIX, 



No. IV. 

Illustration of the case referred to, p. 224, be- 
ing Colonel Walker's note to par. 89 of 
his Report. 

The instance alluded to here, was, a Jahrejah 
who was reported to have murdered his daughter, 
after she had been preserved for some days. 
This circumstance also illustrates another super- 
stitious ceremony of the Hindus. 

A Jahrejah of Raj-Kote, was accused of caus- 
ing, according to the custom of his cast, his in- 
fant daughter to be destroyed. This was just at 
the period, when most of the chiefs had sub- 
scribed to an engagement for renouncing the 
practice. 

Although this deed was supposed to have been 
committed before the penalties of the engage- 
ment could be inforced, I conceived it necessary 
to notice the circumstance, and to embrace every 
occasion of marking, with disapprobation and 
horror, the commission of this unnatural crime. 

The circumstance also was related to me as 
attended with uncommon barbarity. It was 
stated, that some time previous to the delivery 



APPENDIX, 405 

of the Jahrejah woman, the chief of Raj Rote 
had caused it to be intimated to her, that if she 
should be delivered of a daughter, it should be 
preserved. At the time of delivery, the husband 
was abroad, and his wife, who happened to give 
birth to a daughter, followed the injunctions of 
his chief, and no doubt her own inclination, by 
saving the life of the infant. Two or three days 
after this event the husband returned, and with 
the most brutal rage threatened to kill his wife, 
and immediately ordered his daughter to be de- 
stroyed. In this manner, the circumstances were 
related to me ; and Dadajee, the chief of Raj- 
Kote, who resided in my camp, confirmed the 
fact of the delivery, and the injunctions, which 
he had issued for preserving the offspring. 

The attendance of the Jahrejah was obtained; 
but as he affirmed, with appearances also in his 
favour, that the child had died a natural death, 
we were contented, in a case, where complete 
evidence *could not be procured, to have recourse 
to the expedient of deciding the question by lot. 

This extraordinary mode of appeal to the Di- 
vinity, may be traced among most nations ; and 
it is still practised among the Hindus. 

The appeal being supposed to be made in the 
presence of the Divinity, it is attended by reli- 
gious rites and ceremonies, and when it happens 
to be a case of importance, nothing is spared to 
give the trial a solemn appearance. 



i06 



APPENDIX. 



The parties assemble and proceed to a place of 
worship, accompanied by their friends and Brah- 
mins. After the necessary poojas and ceremonies 
are over, chits or notes are made out in the name 
of the Deity, unto whom the appeal is made. 
One of them implores, that, if such a one is inno- 
cent, the Dhurum note, or note declaring him in- 
nocent, may come forth ; the other, that the Pap 
note, if he is guilty, may come forth. 

These notes are thrown into a cloth, or into a 
vessel, and the parties, or those whom they may 
appoint, draw the tickets, which are to decide the 
contest. 

The following is another instance of recourse 
to the trial by lot, in the decision of a civil case, 
but the dubious nature of which was not decided 
thereby. The object was, to ascertain whether 
some words in a will were original or forged. 

This case has been referred to arbitration ; but 
the arbitrators were not able to say, whether 
those words were the hand-writing of the deceas- 
ed or not ; however, they determined to put six 
tickets before the god, viz. three in favour of the 
complainant, and three in favour of the defend- 
ant, to know whether the words in question were 
In the hand-writing of the deceased or not? 
The first time the ticket was in favour of the de- 
fendant, and two subsequent times in favour of 
the complainant, If the three tickets had been 



APPENDIX. 



407 



in favour of either party, he would have had the 
case decided in his favour. 

The following are translations of the notes 
which were used in the instance of the Jahrejah. 
It is unnecessary to add, he was acquitted. 

1. Prosperity ! — Sree Runchoorjee is infallible ! 
— If Rajajee Kurchera walla killed his daughter, 
let the Pap * chit, or note, declaring the sin he 
has committed, come forth. 

2. Prosperity ! — Sree Runchoorjee is infallible ! 
— If Rajajee Kurcherawalla's daughter has died 
a natural death, let the Dhurrum f note, or note 
declaring him innocent, come forth. 

* Pap. Sin or crime. 

t Dhurrum. Justice, religion, charity, innocence. 



408 



APPENDIX, 



No. V. 

Political Department. 

'To the Honourable Jonathan Duncan, 
Governor, fyc. 

Honourable Sir, Bombay. 
Adverting to the chief Secretary's letter of 
the 21st March, 1808, I have great satisfaction 
in submitting, for your information, the accom- 
panying copy and translation from Suoram Sada- 
shes, the. native agent in Kattywar, with its in- 
closure. 

It is little more* than a month ago, since I di- 
rected Sewrum Sadashes to direct his inquiries, 
to ascertain the number of females, which he 
might learn had been preserved in the Jahrejah 
families, in consequence of the engagements for 
refraining from infanticide, and the satisfactory 
nature of the information, which he communi- 
cates, from a very limited portion of the Jahre- 
jah territory, seems to promise, that the humane 
expectations of the Honourable Company's go- 



APPENDIX, 



409 



vernment will not be disappointed in the re- 
sult. 

I have also the honour to transmit another 
memorandum, verbally communicated, from a 
Jahrejah who came to Baroda from Moorbee, 
some time since, and I have no doubt, that sub- 
sequent inquiries will greatly extend the list of 
those lives, which the interference of the Honour- 
able Company's government have saved from the 
early death, to which a barbarous superstition 
had doomed them. 

When it is recollected, that, with a strict inquiry 
during my progress in Kattywar, not more than 
four or five instances of daughters being preser- 
ved, could be traced for years past, the importance 
of this reform, will be estimated by the number 
which have been saved in the few months, that 
have elapsed since the engagements were execu- 
ted. 

The number of lives, which are ascertained to 
have been preserved, under a very limited in- 
quiry, is a decisive proof of the beneficial nature 
of those engagements ; but the effect, which they 
have had on the minds of the Jahrejahs, is pro- 
bably shewn in a prominent light, by the circum- 
stance of one of the Jahrejah's, mentioned in the 
inclosure, under the Bhyaud of Dherole, being 
the same Jahrejah Jessagee of Jallia, noticed in 
the 92d paragraph of my Report, of the 15th 

2d 



410 



APPENDIX, 



March last, who had already destroyed three 
daughters. 

It is probably difficult to prove the fact of any 
female children being put to death ; but in a 
country where this act has never been considered 
criminal or disgraceful, and where every person 
avowed it, without scruple or compunction, the 
circumstance of three infanticides only being as- 
certained, and one of these resting on report, de- 
serves notice, as tending to prove, that the prac- 
tice is decreasing, or that public opinion now 
views it in a different light than formerly. 

For those that have been ascertained, I have 
suggested to the Guicawar government, the 
mode of punishment, which Mr Warden's letter 
recommends. 

I trust, the information I have now the honour 
to forward, will prove satisfactory, and afford 
you, Honourable Sir, the pleasing hope, that the 
horrid practice of female infanticide may be era- 
dicated from Kattywar. 

I have, &c. &c. 

Baroda, 16th December, 1808. 

Then follow the inclosures referred to, contain- 
ing the names of the villages, in which inquiry 
had been made, and of the persons in them, whp 



» 



APPENDIX. 411 

had daughters born within the period of the en- 
gagement. The sum of the whole is contained 
in what follows :— 

Female children who have been preserved, 20 
Died a natural death, ...... 2 

Put to death, 3 

Total, 25 

By an inquiry of one month, the aforemention- 
ed information has been acquired ; but these peo- 
ple are great vagabonds, and it is with great dif- 
ficulty that they can be discovered in putting 
their female issue to death. 

I have, however, taken proper measures to 
ascertain all particulars on this interesting sub- 
ject. 

Baroda, 10th August, 1808. 

According to the information of the Jahrejah 
Jeytajee of Moorbee, the following families have 
saved their daughters, since the agreements for 
abolishing infanticide. 

Jahrejah Moorgee of Dherole ; Janajee of Na- 
grawar ; Ramabay of Rajcote ; and Sheethany of 
Dherole. 

These four, Jeytajee observes, have reared 
their daughters, who are of his acquaintance; 



412 APPENDIX. 

but that many others have followed the same 
practice, and that it has become universal. 

The particulars regarding a future investiga- 
tion, which also was on a limited scale, are 
mentioned in the text, p. 225, &c. 



FINIS. 



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